Lanphier High School - Lan Hi Yearbook (Springfield, IL)

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F0l?fWU!?D Springfield schools this year are celebrating the one hundredth year of public education in Springfield, Illinois. The Lan Hi Staff hasvtried to capture in the next few pages some of the highlights of this interesting and progressive story.

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0 R HERITAGE BUILDINGS The early history of Illinois indicates that it was a conservative state in many respects, for the Constitutions of 1818 and 1848 make no mention of education. A general school law passed in 1825 and considerably improved in 1845 made possible the formation of free public schools. The early settlers in the little prairie town of Springfield were hunters and fishermen. Their migration from Tennessee, Kentucky, and Virginia had left very little time for formal train- ing. For many years, therefore, the inhabitants of Springfield were indifferent to education. By 1850 people from the eastern and northern states had arrived, and being farmers and trades people, their first interest was in providing churches and schools for their families. The first schools were owned and operated by individuals, and anyone who considered him- self qualified could solicit pupils, charge tuition, and keep school. Mr. Erastus Wright, one of the earliest teachers in Springfield, describes the building in which he taught: The log school house located near the northeast corner of what is known as Hutch- inson's Cemetery, was about eighteen by twenty feet. In the construction of the building, a log was left out from each side and the place supplied by a continuous pane of glass which served as a Window. Four sticks driven into-sometimes through -a slab, the convex side down, formed moveable seats. The pupils leaned against nothing. They had no desks, but kept their few books behind the teacheivs stand, on a shelf made by fasten- ing a slab to the Wall. In 1828, a school house was built of rough logs, near the present intersection of Adams and Second streets. The building was about twenty by thirty feet, and served for school house, church, and all other public purposes. Tuition ranged from 81.50 to 5133.00 per term of eleven weeks, for education was no cheaper than the necessities of life. Because many of the schools were started by young ladies who taught only until they were married, Springfield oc- casionally had no school, thus, educa- tional opportunity was very meager dur- I ing the period lasting from 1821-1854. On March 2, 1854, Springfield took advan- tage of the Illinois law which authorized tax supported education. The City Council was empowered to appoint seven men to serve as a Board of School Inspectors, to set up its duties, and to divide Springfield into school wards or districts. The ofiice of Superintendent of Schools was originated by an ordinance by the City Coun- cil in November 1858 on recommendation of the Board of School Inspectors. Lots were purchased in each of the four wards for school purposes, and buildings were to be erected at a cost of 310,000 each. These build- ings were expected to accommodate, altogether, about 1500 pupils. In the spring of 1856, the First and Third XVard Schools were completed and school was opened April 14, 1856. Seven hundred thirty-nine pupils were registered for the spring term, which was the last one of the year. Pandemonium reigned. An excerpt from the diary of one of the teachers describes vividly the first day. IVhen this school was first opened, the behavior of the children indicated their joy . . .They seemed frantic with curiosity and delight. . .They ran, they jumped, they screamed. The boys brought their bone- rattles, and the girls and boys came with whistles. They leaped over chairs, and from desk to desk, rattling, singing, hooting and screaming, in joyous exhilaration, as if the occasion and the house had been gotten up expressly for frolic and fun, and with- out any design whatever for study, dis- THE INTERIOR OF AN 1854 SCHOOL