North Park University - History

History

In the later part of the 19th century, thousands of Swedish immigrants left Sweden and began to settle in America. As the communities, concentrated in the Midwest with hubs in Chicago and Minneapolis, began to settle and develop, many things began to happen that would pave the way for North Park University. The denomination that is now known as the Covenant began to organize in the 1880s and soon the education of Swedish immigrants, specifically theological education, became an important issue. E. August Skogsbergh (1850–1939), sometimes called the Swedish Moody for his association with the famous Chicago Evangelist D.L. Moody, started a school in Minneapolis in 1884 that would serve as a forerunner to North Park in many ways.

By 1891, the Covenant was in agreement that they should formally establish a school of their own. Skogsbergh offered his school, which served as the official Covenant school for three years, from 1891 until 1893. In 1894, the school was moved to Chicago, a move that upset some, including Skogsbergh. It moved to its present location at the corner of Foster and Kedzie, despite its remoteness from the Loop. It was sited close to then existing Swedish-American villages and the newly established Swedish Covenant Hospital. Old Main, the oldest building on campus, was erected and dedicated on June 16, 1894. It is at this time that the name North Park was first used to describe the school.

The early years of North Park were marked with both struggles and successes. Both enrollment and funding fluctuated greatly in the early years. An interesting source of both money and headache came from P.H. Anderson, who at the time was serving as a Covenant missionary in Alaska. Taking part in the gold rush of the time, Anderson made a massive find. And though he donated a portion of the findings, questionable circumstances surrounded the claim that created tension among the leadership of North Park.

An early leader at that time was David Nyvall. He served as president and teacher in the Seminary for many years. The current seminary building, Nyvall Hall, is named after him. By the turn of the century, North Park could boast of a theological seminary, a prominent and large commercial department, a growing music department, and an academy created in 1894 to better prepare students for the seminary.

Since the early days, the school has developed and changed in many ways. In 1958, North Park Junior College expanded from a two-year college into a four-year program, becoming North Park College. In 1997, the controversial decision was made to again change the name of the school, and North Park University was born. Though North Park still holds on to its Swedish American past and close ties with the Evangelical Covenant Church, it is now a multicultural institution focused on diversity. North Park now proudly describes itself as a Liberal Arts University that is intentionally urban, distinctively Christian, and purposefully multicultural. North Park University is accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools and the Higher Learning Council. The seminary is additionally accredited by the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada.

North Park's current president, Dr. David L. Parkyn, was inaugurated in November, 2006.