Throughout the month of September, our focus is on education and educators in Illinois history. Follow along here and on our social media to learn more about the people and institutions that have shaped how Illinois learns.
On November 18, 1851, Jonathan Baldwin Turner stood before a convention of farmers in Granville, Illinois and delivered an address that would play a part in changing the direction of American education. A 46-year-old minister, professor, and horticulturalist who had lived for twenty years in Jacksonville, Illinois, Turner believed that every state needed to institute industrial universities – universities dedicated to instruction in agricultural and industrial arts.… Read More