A Magazine for Alumni and Friends
Eighty-eight years is a long time, so it's safe to assume that no one individual attended Laurier’s foundation in both Waterloo and Brantford.
Comparing photographs from the opening of the Evangelical Lutheran Seminary of Canada (now Wilfrid Laurier University and Martin Luther University College) in 1911 and Laurier's Brantford campus in 1999, it is easy to see the stark differences in fashion and demeanour brought by the passage of generations. However, it is similarities that stand out: The shared fanfare, the crowds and speeches on an October day. These images remind us that Laurier does not exist in a vacuum.
A crowd gathers to witness the official opening of the Evangelical Lutheran Seminary of Canada (now Wilfrid Laurier University and Martin Luther University College) in 1911.
Whether it be hundreds of people gathering to see the opening of the first Lutheran seminary in Canada or droves of community members ascending the steps of a revitalized Carnegie Library to take a first look inside, these images illustrate that places of higher education are civic hubs that influence and shape the cultural and built landscapes around them. Imagine Kitchener-Waterloo without Laurier and the University of Waterloo (both born out of the seminary), or downtown Brantford without Laurier. They would be very different places. These historic photographs capture the genesis of change in both communities.
Andre Furlong is an archives assistant at the Laurier Archives on the university's Waterloo campus.