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Education

A Community in Conflict

3 items

1871
In 1871, Martha and Henry Crow wanted their children to get as much education as possible.

Digital Exhibit

1926
In the 1920s the discrimination of female teachers was still prevalent, both locally and across the United States. Unequal pay and rules that focused on ensuring their moral behavior (both inside and outside the classroom), rather than standards of teaching, were still in place.

Digital Exhibit

1939
Black students could attend Illinois State Normal University as early as the 1870s. But if they could not find off-campus housing in Bloomington or Normal, that opportunity disappeared.

Digital Exhibit

Articles

9 items

Illinois State Normal University’s Cook Hall gymnasium, seen here in September 1946, provided temporary housing to newly enrolled World War II veterans awaiting the completion of off-campus federal housing units.

Back to school 1946 meant return to normalcy
The start of 1946-1947 school year, coming as it did a full year after the end of World War II,...

Article

A yellowed image shows a large three-story school made of brick. it has multiple chimneys, and a fence around the perimeter of the grounds. Blurred human figures can be seen on the sidewalk, they are moving and come across as translucent in this image. A few branches of a tree can be see on the right, they are completely bare. A small amount of snow appears to be on the ground.

Bloomington schools integrated decade after Civil War
Although racially segregated schools are associated with the “Jim Crow” Deep South and the Civi...

Article

Bloomington’s Oakland School a modernist architectural gem
The post-World War II era marked a dramatic evolution—if not revolution—in the design of school...

Article

Brown’s delivered white-collar education
Business colleges played an important but often-overlooked role in American education. For the ...

Article

ISNU welcomed veterans after WWII
After World War II, Illinois State Normal University put out the welcome mat for returning sold...

Article

ISU held racially segregated spring dances in the 1930s and ’40s
The racial climate throughout the United States deteriorated steadily in the first quarter of t...

Article

One of June Rose Colby’s most beloved possessions was a rose jar or vase (to the left of the framed photo on the table). It was her longstanding custom to place a petal in it after some wonderful experience or happy occasion.

Prof. June Rose Colby lived ‘life of the mind’
“Miss Colby was a most unusual person,” noted Helen Marshall in her centennial history of Illin...

Article

aerial view of BHS under construction

‘New’ Bloomington High opened in 1959
Although it may be hard to believe, the current Bloomington High School is nearly six decades o...

Article

‘Pop’ Horton organized campus circus fraternity in 1929
Today marks the 38th anniversary of the death of Dr. Clifford E. Horton, one of the titans of I...

Article

Biographies

30 items

Dr. William Henry Harrison

Adams, Dr. William Henry Harrison
Dr. William Henry Harrison Adams was born on March 30, 1840 in Effingham County, Illinois. He w...

Biography

John Howard Burnham

Burnham, John Howard
John Howard Burnham was born on October 31, 1834 in Essex, Massachusetts. His parents, John Bur...

Biography

Cahill, Francis
Francis Cahill, Jr. was born on April 5, 1922 in Chicago, Illinois. He was the oldest of four s...

Biography

Portrait of a young Black woman with her hair parted down the middle and pulled back. She is wearing a black and white dress and is looking at the camera with a closed-mouth smile.

Clark, Lue Anna Sanders
Lue Anna Brown was born on January 26, 1892 in a rural area in Bandana, Kentucky, to William an...

Biography

Colby, Dr. June Rose
June Rose Colby, known to friends and family as Rose, was born at Cherry Valley, Ohio on June 4...

Biography

William O. Davis

Davis, William O.
William Osbourne Davis was the son of a Quaker farmer from Chester County, Pennsylvania and beg...

Biography

DeMotte, Harvey C.
Harvey Clelland DeMotte was a devoted and beloved teacher who worked to bring out the best in e...

Biography

Flora Pennell Dodge

Dodge, Flora Pennell
Flora Pennell Dodge was born on September 14, 1868 in Normal, Illinois.  She was the youngest o...

Biography

Ela, George Porter
Frances Harriet Rowell was born on November 15, 1835 in Waterford, Vermont.  She was one of fou...

Biography

Lura Eyestone

Eyestone, Lura
Lura Mary Eyestone was born in Bloomington, Illinois on October 14, 1872 to Theodore Riley and ...

Biography

Mary Hartmann

Hartmann, Mary J.
Mary J. Hartmann was born on October 13, 1845 on a farm in Franklin Township, Washington County...

Biography

Hobbs, Dr. William C.
Dr. William Hobbs was born in Maryland on December 24, 1800. Very little is known about his lif...

Biography

Julia Holder

Holder, Julia
Julia Montrose Holder was on born December 24, 1884 in Bloomington, Illinois to Dan and Kate (S...

Biography

Emily Howard

Howard, Emily
At the turn of the twentieth century, when the public reception of visual arts in Bloomington, ...

Biography

Jackman, John
John Adams Jackman was born March 22, 1816 in Boscawen, New Hampshire, where his great-grandfat...

Biography

Sarah Jackman

Jackman, Sarah Farnum Sargent
Sarah Farnum Sargent Jackman was born on December 18, 1816 in Boscawen, New Hampshire. She was ...

Biography

Kessler, Clara Louise
Clara Louise Kessler (1893-1968) “knows and loves children and is vitally interested in them,” ...

Biography

an older white woman seated at a piano.

Kessler, Frances
Frances Kessler had a passion for music and education. Music had always been an interest in her...

Biography

Luella Kimball headstone

Kimball, Luella
Not much is known about Luella Kimball, sometimes known as Luella Rankin. Luella was the fourth...

Biography

King, Mary Reed
Mary (Reed) King (1842-1928) and Samuel Noble (1834-1913) were a force in the advancement of ag...

Biography

King, Samuel Noble
Samuel Noble (1834-1913) and Mary (Reed) King (1842-1928) were a force in the advancement of ag...

Biography

Henry McCormick

McCormick, Henry
Henry McCormick was born on February 5, 1837 in Belmullet, County Mayo, Ireland.  He spent his ...

Biography

Angie Milner

Milner, Angeline Vernon
Angeline Vernon Milner, known to most as Ange, is one of Illinois' most famous librarians....

Biography

Moratz, Paul
Paul O. Moratz had a passion for building and design that started at a young age. For 34 years ...

Biography

Portrait of Arthur Pillsbury

Pillsbury, Arthur L.
Arthur L. Pillsbury was born in Bloomington, Illinois on November 29th, 1869. He grew up in Blo...

Biography

Melinda Rankin headstone

Rankin, Melinda
Melinda Rankin was born in Littleton, New Hampshire on March 21, 1811. She attended and taught ...

Biography

Leonard Siebert headstone

Seibert, Leonard
Leonard Seibert was born on August 18, 1831 in Koenig, a borough of Essen, Germany. He came to ...

Biography

Letitia Green Stevenson

Stevenson, Letitia Green
Letitia Barbour Green Stevenson was born in Alleghany City in Western Pennsylvania on January 8...

Biography

Trotter, Georgina
Georgina Trotter (1836-1904) and Sarah Raymond Fitzwilliam (1842 – 1918) were advocates and clo...

Biography

William White

White, William Richard
William Richard White was born on December 22, 1844 in Goosenest Prairie, Coles County, Illinoi...

Biography

Blog

65 items

"Gridley High, January 1953 County Hoops Champs"
Here’s Gridley High School Coach Clarence “Merk” Kyger readying his varsity squad for the 1953 ...

Blog Post

Aaron Copland at IWU February 1958
Composer Aaron Copland was the featured guest for Illinois Wesleyan University's Seventh A...

Blog Post

All I Want for Christmas … Lincoln School First Graders, 1965
Back in early December 1965, these six-year-old first graders from Lincoln School in Bloomingto...

Blog Post

Anchor School Circa 1900
The small community of Anchor, located in the northeastern corner of McLean County, was once ho...

Blog Post

Angelic Coeds, September 27, 1940 Dedication of the Van Leer Chime Tower
Bill Kemp's “Page from Our Past” column in the Pantagraph (linked below) detailed the hist...

Blog Post

Arrowsmith High School
Built in 1929, this building served as the Village of Arrowsmith’s high school until consolidat...

Blog Post

BHS Athletic Field Undated Aerial
This undated view of Bloomington High School’s Athletic Field is looking southeast. “A” signifi...

Blog Post

BHS Student Lounge May 1948
Bloomington High School students Wanda Rust (right) and Margaret Schlemmer work on murals in th...

Blog Post

Back to School Illinois Wesleyan, September 1938
Monday, August 29, 2016 marked the first day of classes for the 2016-2017 school year at Illino...

Blog Post

Bird House Contest, 1930s Anchor Grade School
This wonderful photograph comes from the Museum’s William Brigham Collection. Brigham was the l...

Blog Post

Bloomington High Aegis staff October 1954
Several weeks ago we ran a photograph from a set of 1954 negatives showing the staff of Aegis, ...

Blog Post

Bloomington High School Under Construction, August 1958
This aerial shows the “new” Bloomington High School, corner of Towanda Avenue and Locust Street...

Blog Post

Brown’s Business College, 1930 526-530 N. Main St., Bloomington
Brown’s Business College, a chain of schools established by G.W. Brown of Jacksonville, offered...

Blog Post

Christmas Seals, 1937
Richard Young, a Bloomington High School student, is seen here showing an enlarged reproduction...

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Cooksville High School Class of 1909
Seen here are 1909 graduates from Cooksville, a small community some fifteen miles northeast of...

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Emerson School, Bloomington March 1976
Built in the early 1900s, Emerson School was demolished in 1985. Designed by prominent Blooming...

Blog Post

Excelsior School -- Cheney’s Grove Township, 1938
Excelsior School, located two miles east of Saybrook, was one of more than 250 one-room schools...

Blog Post

Extra! Extra! Read All About it! BHS student newspaper, 1954
The Aegis is Bloomington High School’s longtime student newspaper. Here’s chief photographer Bo...

Blog Post

Extra, extra, read all about it! Pantagraph’s graduation edition, May 1949
Danvers High School seniors are seen here pouring though The Daily Pantagraph’s 56-page graduat...

Blog Post

Fall Means College Football ISNU ‘Teachers,’ 1907
Back in 1907, the Illinois State Normal University Teachers (the nickname would be changed to “...

Blog Post

Fashion Show Prep, late April 1958 Octavia High School, Colfax
This late April 1958 scene shows Octavia High School student Marcella Brucker at a sewing machi...

Blog Post

Halloween Party, 1939 Holy Trinity Parish Kindergarten, Bloomington
Holy Trinity Catholic Church's afternoon kindergarten class enjoyed candied apples among o...

Blog Post

Happy Halloween! Jefferson School, Bloomington, 1957
James and Evora Ross, pictured here with their four-year-old daughter Janet, chaired the all-fa...

Blog Post

Heyworth High and Environs January 1933
This wonderful aerial photograph of Heyworth High School dates to January 23, 1933. The view is...

Blog Post

Homecoming 1949 Bloomington High School
Seen here are two photographs of Bloomington’s 1949 homecoming festivities. The photo on the le...

Blog Post

ISSCS Festival August 1950
The Illinois Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Children’s School annual festival of 1950 included pressure...

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Illinois State Normal University Junior-Senior Prom, 1949
Several ISNU coeds show off their gowns for the June 10, 1949 junior-senior prom. Louise Claymo...

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Illinois State Normal University Quad, 1941
This aerial view, looking north, shows the ISNU Quad in 1941. Note the walkways that led from “...

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Irving School, Bloomington Eighth Grade Graduates, 1925
Here’s the Irving School class of 1925. In 2016 Irving is still a public school on Bloomington’...

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LeRoy Centennial Parade October 19, 1935
A merchant’s parade was one of the highlights of LeRoy’s three-day centennial celebration, Octo...

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LeRoy High’s Ron Crosby Teacher of Year, May 1964
At the end of the 1964 school year, Leroy High School students selected biology teacher and bas...

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McLean County Basketball Tournament Championship Game, January 21, 1966 Octavia 68, Lexington 48
For many years the biggest sporting event on the local calendar was the McLean County Basketbal...

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North Gate Subdivision Northeast Normal, July 1964
During the summer of 1964, ranch and split-level homes were popping up in the North Gate subdiv...

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Old Main Comes Down September 9, 1958
On September 9, 1958, a one-ton wrecking ball made quick work of Illinois State University’s fi...

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Patrol Boys Confab, January 1946 Franklin School, Bloomington
Some 140 patrol boys from nine Bloomington public schools gathered at Franklin School on Januar...

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Photo of the Week, 10: “A Full House” at “The Wesleyan,” November 1924
Mostly everything in the Museum's collections have been donated by people who like to save...

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Photo of the Week, 116: We Shall Overcome, October 1965
On Sunday, October 24, 1965, demonstrators from Illinois State University marched along Main St...

Blog Post

Photo of the Week, 117: ISSCS Graduates, 1958
Normal was the longtime home to the state-run orphanage known as the Illinois Soldiers’ and Sai...

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Photo of the Week, 122: Watterson Towers, October 1967 -- Twenty-One Stories to Go!
Watterson Towers, a 28-story residence hall complex located on the Illinois State University ca...

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Photo of the Week, 124: ‘Swing Time’ at Victory Hall October 1935
Opened in 1919 and located at 904 Hovey Ave. in Normal, Victory Hall was a safe place for boys ...

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Photo of the Week, 126: ‘Fab Four’ in Bloomington, 1950
The Beatles didn’t arrive in the U.S. until February 1964, but some 14 years earlier Bloomingto...

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Photo of the Week, 14: Bent School Graduates, June 1938
Graduation season is upon us! Seen here are 1938 graduates of Horatio G. Bent School on Bloomin...

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Photo of the Week, 24: Seven ball in the corner pocket . . .
Students at the Illinois Soldiers' and Sailors' Children's School (ISSCS) play p...

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Photo of the Week, 32: Are you ready for some football?
Pictured here is the 1915 University High School football team. The “U Men" (the school n...

Blog Post

Photo of the Week, 41: We’re Number One!
Museum to Sell Replica Redbird Cap from 1969 Championship Season On June 6, 1969, Illinois St...

Blog Post

Photo of the Week, 64: Redbirds Crowned National Champs in 1969
Get Your Replica Cap Today! Illinois State University's baseball team captured the NCAA C...

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Photo of the Week, 69: Ready, Set, Go!
Bloomington High School baseball team, 1947The district champions charge off the bench for a wa...

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Photo of the Week, 75: Amen and Let's Eat!
Established in 1864/1865, the Illinois' Soldiers' Orphans' Home (later renamed I...

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Photo of the Week, 77: That's a Hair-raising Experience!
In mid-September 1939, The Pantagraph ran a photo essay on the University School of Beauty Cult...

Blog Post

Photo of the Week, 82: 'Starr' Attraction at Normal Chamber Banquet, 1969
Famed Green Bay Packers quarterback Bart Starr was the keynote speaker at the March 26, 1969 No...

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Photo of the Week, 83: Swiped Bell Returned to Redbird Roost, September 20, 1967
Back in the 1960s when Illinois State University and Illinois Wesleyan University still played ...

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Photo of the Week, 94: Thanksgiving at ISSCS, 1962
For more than a century, the Town of Normal was home to a state-run orphanage: the Illinois Sol...

Blog Post

Photo of the Week: ISSCS Graduates, 1958
Normal was the longtime home to the state-run orphanage known as the Illinois Soldiers’ and Sai...

Blog Post

Prairie Daze Hudson, July 12, 1980
Acacia fraternity members from Illinois Wesleyan University compete in the outhouse race at Hud...

Blog Post

Readying for college Fall of 1949
Bill and Edmunds Rolley enjoy an apparently carefree day in the Twin Cities before heading off ...

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Rockets, mid-1940s Twin-City Recreation Center
The Rockets were an informal team connected to the Twin-City Recreation Center, 318 S. Main St....

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Spooktacular 1957 Jefferson School, Bloomington
The Jefferson School PTA held an all-family Halloween party on October 28, 1957. Seen here are ...

Blog Post

T-H-A-N-K-S-G-I-V-I-N-G 1980 Towanda Grade School
Towanda Grade School kindergartners perform Thanksgiving themed poems and songs for their paren...

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The Times They Have Changed! Town of Normal, 1966
This view of the Town of Normal and Illinois State University, taken in 1966 from either Hewett...

Blog Post

Three hospitals; three styles of caps June 1958
The distinctive caps worn by graduate nurses at the three Bloomington-Normal hospitals were com...

Blog Post

Tree Planting, Lincoln School April 22, 1938
In a pre-Arbor Day observance, members of Lincoln School’s eighth grade class watch Jack Elledg...

Blog Post

University School of Beauty Culture September 1939
Margarette Scott’s beauty school was located on the 400 block of North Main Street in downtown ...

Blog Post

Wesleyan Homecoming, October 1958 Titans Rough Up the Bluejays
Fifty-seven years ago, Saturday, October 25, 1958, Wesleyan easily dispatched visiting Elmhurst...

Blog Post

When Every Small Town Had a High School … Stanford High, 1936
Long before successive waves of school consolidation beginning apace in the late 1940s, every s...

Blog Post

Wilder Field, IWU July 1938
Illinois Wesleyan University's Wilder Field was built with Works Progress Administration (...

Blog Post

Events

2 items

Growing Up Gen X with Erica Holst
Join us online and in person on Saturday, February 24, at 2 p.m. to explore what it meant to gr...

Event

Slow Art Day on Route 66
The Museum is excited to join 15 other local arts organizations in celebrating Slow Art Day on ...

Event

Finding Aids

89 items

Adlai Stevenson Lecture Series 1965-1981
Adlai E. Stevenson, former Illinois Governor and two-time presidential candidate, grew up in Bl...

Finding Aid

Adult Education
The Adult Education program in Bloomington-Normal had its origins in 1935 and the New Deal WPA,...

Finding Aid

Armstrong, Bea
Born in Hudson to William Campbell and Alma Belle Cope Blagg, Beatrice “Bea” Armstrong (1915-19...

Finding Aid

Arthur Drake School Band of America Collection
The School Band of America – School Chorus of America was founded July 1, 1959 and established ...

Finding Aid

Baby Fold
Nancy and Allen Mason were pioneers in Normal– moving here just after the Civil War. Nancy Maso...

Finding Aid

Barth, Pat
Pat Barth donated this collection which contains materials from her early school days and other...

Finding Aid

Bloomingdale School (Randolph Township)
Bloomingdale School began in 1856 when a roughly built house was located at the southwest corne...

Finding Aid

Bloomington Education Association Collection
The Bloomington Education Association was organized in June 1967 with nearly half of District 8...

Finding Aid

Bloomington High School
This collection contains ephemera, newspaper clippings, course guides, handbooks, and programs ...

Finding Aid

Bloomington High School Class Reunion
This collection contains reunion programs and alumni lists for classes of 1930, 1936, 1937, 193...

Finding Aid

Bloomington Public Schools
The collection includes sorority histories, anniversary programs, bylaws, membership booklets, ...

Finding Aid

Bloomington School District 87
Bloomington School District began on February 17, 1857, with “An Act to Establish and Regulate ...

Finding Aid

Bloomington-Normal Adult Education
The Adult Education program in Bloomington-Normal had its origins in 1935 and the New Deal WPA,...

Finding Aid

Blue Mound School
What first began in 1858 as a class being held in a private residence, expanded into a school h...

Finding Aid

Boysen-Presit, Gail
Gail Boysen-Presit and her family moved from Rochester, Minnesota, to Bloomington, Illinois, wh...

Finding Aid

Brokaw Hospital Nursing Alumni Association
This collection contains alumni association directories, newsletters, meeting programs, and inf...

Finding Aid

Brown’s Business College
Brown’s Business College (1893-1972) offered training for young men and women entering the work...

Finding Aid

Carlock Schools
This collection of school records documents the activities of a rural school district. These re...

Finding Aid

Center School (Allin Township) Collection
“Center School (9) No. 69 This small district, consisting of about two and one-half sections, w...

Finding Aid

Center School (Randolph Township)
The first school in this district was conducted in 1840 at the Stewart home by V. Fell.  John M...

Finding Aid

Chesebrough, David B.
David B. Chesebrough was born March 14, 1932 and died April 29, 2004.  Chesebrough was a pastor...

Finding Aid

Children and Elders Forest
Children and Elders Forest was formed in 2005 in Bloomington-Normal for charitable and educatio...

Finding Aid

Cornell School (Arrowsmith Township)
Cornell School (No. 113) was originally built in the 1860s.  Its location was moved and a new b...

Finding Aid

Denman School (White Oak Township) Mother's Club
The Denman School Club began in 1921 as a means of communication among teachers, students, and ...

Finding Aid

Detloff
School documents, records, and textbooks belonging to Elmer Detloff...

Finding Aid

District 87 Unit 5 Consolidation Campaign
In 1992 an ad hoc committee requested a study of the future of education in Bloomington-Normal,...

Finding Aid

Douglass, Emmett
Emmett Douglass was a country school teacher in Lexington around 1900 who later farmed.  His wi...

Finding Aid

Engle Family Papers
The Engle Family Papers Collection consists of 2 boxes. It contains mostly school notebooks com...

Finding Aid

Gathman Collection
Mildred Scholl Gathman (1918-2001) was born in rural Arrowsmith and lived there much of her lif...

Finding Aid

Gladys Washburn Mennonite School of Nursing
Born in 1904 to Sarah Myers and George A. Washburn, Gladys moved with her family from the Heywo...

Finding Aid

Gridley Schools
The first school in the Village of Gridley was subscription-based, and it opened in 1859. The f...

Finding Aid

Hibarger, Bessie Family
This collection includes:Over 600 letters, mostly personal and handwritten among family members...

Finding Aid

Historical Geography Class Papers
Papers written for Historical Geography classes and Independent Studies by students of William ...

Finding Aid

Hodge-Read Family
Most of this collection is correspondence between the Hodges (1830-1880), land and estate docum...

Finding Aid

Holy Trinity Church and Schools
The first time the name "Holy Trinity" appears in the directories for Bloomington was...

Finding Aid

Houghton School
Houghton School received its name because it was situated on the Stephen Houghton farm.  A fram...

Finding Aid

ISU Athletics
The collection includes Illinois State University football guides, basketball guides, football ...

Finding Aid

IWU Marketing Class Papers
Associate Professor of Business Administration Fred Hoyt has long asked his students to each st...

Finding Aid

Illinois Soldiers' and Sailors' Children's School (ISSCS)
The Illinois Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Children’s School Collection is organized into six boxes co...

Finding Aid

Illinois State Normal University Centennial
Founded in 1857 as Illinois’ first public university, Illinois State Normal University (today k...

Finding Aid

Illinois Wesleyan University
Illinois Wesleyan University was founded in 1850, with its first building erected in its curren...

Finding Aid

Intercity High School Tournament
An Intercity High School basketball competition was begun in Bloomington and Normal in 1968. In...

Finding Aid

Jacobs Ralph
Ralph H. Jacobs was born in Elliott, IL in 1918. He attended Saybrook High School, graduating i...

Finding Aid

Kirk, Margaret
Margaret (Peg) Kirk was a beloved English teacher and speech coach at Normal Community High Sch...

Finding Aid

Klein, Lois Welsh School Textbooks
This is a collection of Lois Welsh’s (now Klein) books from a one room school in Gridley Townsh...

Finding Aid

Knight, Robert N.
Robert N. Knight, also known as “Mr. Junior High School,” was a much loved and admired prin-cip...

Finding Aid

LaBounty, William P.
William P. LaBounty was born September 1, 1930, educated in Bloomington schools, and IWU, enlis...

Finding Aid

Lanz, Laura
This collection contains essays by Laura from high school, her high school report cards, biogra...

Finding Aid

Lincoln School
This collection consists of a series of albums and notebooks relating to Abraham Lincoln Elemen...

Finding Aid

McLean County Association for Home and Community Education
This collection includes newspaper articles referencing the various HCE/HEA members and the pro...

Finding Aid

McLean County Ethnographies
Illinois State University anthropology professor Dr. Rob Dirks collected essays from his studen...

Finding Aid

McLean County Schools
This collection contains school directories, exams, and other miscellaneous documents from vari...

Finding Aid

McLean School (Mount Hope Township)
The village of McLean, IL was platted in 1856.  School District No. 5 was laid out and organize...

Finding Aid

Mennonite Hospital Nursing
The Mennonite School of Nursing was established as the Mennonite Sanitarium Training School in ...

Finding Aid

Money Creek Township Schools Collection
Schools and their districts in Money Creek Township included:Bishop District 3 then 203Frog A...

Finding Aid

Mount Prospect School (Old Town Township)
The Mount Prospect School started as a small frame house built around 1855.  The School was sit...

Finding Aid

Nancy J. Peairs Ramos Scrapbook Collection
Nancy Jane Peairs documented her years at Unit 5 in two scrapbooks. They mainly included Junior...

Finding Aid

Normal Community High School
This collection contains course catalogs, PTA booklets, school publications, programs from play...

Finding Aid

Normal Summer Theatre
The High School Summer Theatre Program—now sponsored by the Town of Normal’s Department of Cult...

Finding Aid

Orendorff Family Collection
The Orendorff family was among the first settlers in McLean County, when brothers William and T...

Finding Aid

Phonograph and Audio
This collection includes audio recordings of speeches, meetings, and music on cassettes, reels,...

Finding Aid

Price School Social Club, 1946-1973 (Bloomington Township)
The Price School Social Club was a group of women associated with Price School, which was locat...

Finding Aid

Quinn, Jean Family
Jean Quinn was born Shirley Jean Quinn on November 3, 1927, the only child of Forrest and Ruth ...

Finding Aid

Rutledge School (Downs Township)
Rutledge School District was laid out in 1862, but not organized until 1867. The school was nam...

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School Books Collection
The collection includes published textbooks. ...

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School District Consolidation Campaign 1992-96
In 1992 an ad hoc committee requested a study of the future of education in Bloomington-Normal,...

Finding Aid

School Notebooks Collection
Books prepared by students....

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School Records
Documents include monthly common school schedules, daily teacher's registers, reports to a...

Finding Aid

Selk, Mary
Born in Peoria, Mary Ellen Selk (1921-2023) graduated El Paso High in 1939, attended Illinois W...

Finding Aid

Shirley Schools (Dale Township)
Shirley Schools (No. 73) and its district was organized in 1854 with John Foster, Hiram Quinn, ...

Finding Aid

Simmons School (Dale Township)
Simmons was built in 1856 when Joel Simmons sold the district the site at the southeast corner ...

Finding Aid

St. Joseph’s School of Nursing
St. Joseph Hospital School of Nursing was a Catholic institution conducted by the Sisters of Th...

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St. Mary’s of Bloomington Church and School
St. Mary’s Catholic Church also known as the German Catholic Church was founded in 1867 by the ...

Finding Aid

Stanford High School Alumni
Stanford High School, Stanford, IL, Allin Township, dates to 1890. In 1920, area voters establi...

Finding Aid

Stanford Schools
The Stanford school district was organized in 1869. Stanford High School dates to 1890. In 1920...

Finding Aid

Steele, Ruth Teaching
The Ruth Steele Teaching Collection includes the patterns for various holiday displays and post...

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Sublett, Michael D.
Michael D. Sublett, born 1943 in Kansas City, Missouri, received his Bachelor’s Degree from the...

Finding Aid

Suggs, Frank
A professor of music at Illinois State University starting in 1969, Frank Suggs promoted Africa...

Finding Aid

Union School (Allin Township)
Originally laid out with three sections in this county and about the same number in Tazewell Co...

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Unit 5 Schools
On May 8, 1948, voters approved the formation of a school district that is today legally known ...

Finding Aid

University High School
This collection covers the lab school beginning as part of ISNU through its success today as pa...

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University High School Athletics
This collection includes fall, winter, and spring programs, as well as individual programs for ...

Finding Aid

University High School Reunions
Illinois State Normal University was established in 1857. In 1862 grade school and high school ...

Finding Aid

Walker School (Bloomington Township)
Located in Blooming Grove (Bloomington Township section 22), Walker School is generally recogni...

Finding Aid

Wantling, William
This four-box collection contains correspondence, professional work, academic work, and notes o...

Finding Aid

Wheeler Family
The Wheeler family papers were given to the McLean County Historical Society by Harriet W. Hoff...

Finding Aid

William D. Walters, Jr.
Professor Emeritus of Geography, Walters taught at Illinois State University for many years. Hi...

Finding Aid

World War II Home Front Oral Histories
The Interviewers were senior students of W. Michael Weis, Ph.D., Professor of History at Illino...

Finding Aid

World War II Interview Papers Collection
World War II erupted in September 1939 with the German invasion of Poland and ended with Japan’...

Finding Aid

Oral Histories

6 items

Beth Echeverria

Oral History

Delores Campbell and Mary Trunnell

Oral History

Irene Barnes

Oral History

Lue Anna Clark
Father was enslaved, WWI era restaurant business, boarding of ISNU students...

Oral History

Sonny Garcia

Oral History

Wilbur Barton
Early Normal family, ISNU grad & athlete, WWII veteran, teacher/principal....

Oral History

Research

1 item

Schoolhouses in McLean County

Map

Videos

1 item

Lunch & Learn: A Fair to Remember - The History of McLean County Fairs

Video