{"id":508,"date":"2016-01-12T18:03:12","date_gmt":"2016-01-12T18:03:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.lib.luc.edu\/wla\/?p=508"},"modified":"2026-01-12T21:33:58","modified_gmt":"2026-01-12T21:33:58","slug":"the-blizzard-of-1979","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/libblogs.luc.edu\/wla\/2016\/01\/12\/the-blizzard-of-1979\/","title":{"rendered":"Blizzard Blitz, 1979"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chicagoland is currently experiencing frigid temperatures made worse by a biting wind. The reason this is noteworthy is because the fall of 2015 turned out to be unseasonably warm, resulting in many of us mentally unprepared for usual winter cold weather.<\/p>\n

With forecasts for the next several days in the low teens and several inches of snow Monday night, I went in search of Mundelein College winter photos.* What I found falls under the category of \u201cbe happy it\u2019s not worse!\u201d In 1979, Chicago experienced a blizzard of record breaking proportions that also affected the mayoral race.<\/p>\n

On Saturday, January 13 and Sunday, January 14th, Northern Illinois and Northwest Indiana received 21 inches of show, at the time, the second largest Chicago snowstorm in history. Five people died and 15 received serious injuries from the snowfall. Flights to and from O\u2019Hare airport were grounded for 96 hours from January 13 to 15.<\/p>\n

After the blizzard, cold weather and additional snowfall continued affecting Chicagoland public transportation and trash collection for months. Mayor Michael Bilandic was blamed for the city\u2019s inadequate response to the weather. Bilandic\u2019s main opponent in the February 27th mayoral primary, Jane Byrne, capitalized on these problems and defeated him, going on to become the first female mayor of Chicago.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what Mundelein College looked like after the 1979 snow.<\/p>\n

\"1979_Student_Activities_Blizzard_Blitz<\/a>

1979 Blizzard Blitz: A car and bulldozer are pictured next to Piper Hall after the blizzard.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"1979_Student_Activities_Blizzard_Blitz<\/a>

1979 Blizzard Blitz: Shoveling the sidewalks at Mundelein College.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"1979_Student_Activities_Blizzard_Blitz<\/a>

1979 Blizzard Blitz: Mundelein campus after snow plows cleared some of the snow.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"1979<\/a>

1979 Blizzard Blitz: A member of the Mundelein community enjoys the snow on cross-country skis.<\/p><\/div>\n

* Mundelein College, founded and operated by the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (BVM), provided education to women from 1930 until 1991, when it affiliated with Loyola University Chicago. The Women and Leadership Archives (WLA) at Loyola holds the records of Mundelein College.<\/p>\n

\n

Nancy became Director of the WLA in spring, 2013. Prior to that, Nancy was an archivist and records manager at a wildlife research facility for the USDA in Colorado. Nancy has worked in the archival field since 1999. When not at the WLA, Nancy enjoys spending time with her family and knitting.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Loyola University Chicago’s Women and Leadership Archives Blog is designed to provide a positive environment for the Loyola community to discuss important issues and ideas. Differences of opinion are encouraged. We invite comments in response to posts and ask that you write in a civil and respectful manner. All comments will be screened for tone and content and must include the first and last name of the author and a valid email address. The appearance of comments on the blog does not imply the University’s endorsement or acceptance of views expressed.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

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Chicagoland is currently experiencing frigid temperatures made worse by a biting wind. The reason this is noteworthy is because the fall of 2015 turned out to be unseasonably warm, resulting in many of us mentally unprepared for usual winter cold … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":103,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[9908,9917],"tags":[9917],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/libblogs.luc.edu\/wla\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/508"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/libblogs.luc.edu\/wla\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/libblogs.luc.edu\/wla\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libblogs.luc.edu\/wla\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/103"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libblogs.luc.edu\/wla\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=508"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/libblogs.luc.edu\/wla\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/508\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2688,"href":"https:\/\/libblogs.luc.edu\/wla\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/508\/revisions\/2688"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/libblogs.luc.edu\/wla\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=508"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libblogs.luc.edu\/wla\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=508"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libblogs.luc.edu\/wla\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=508"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}