University of Illinois - Illio Yearbook (Urbana Champaign, IL)

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Completing his education at Yale, Jonathan B. Turner came to Jacksonville's Illinois College to teach Greek. Education Reflects Increasing Democracy in American Life To briefly trace the rise of a modern American university— the University of Illinois— a singu- lar development must first be noted. This de- velopment is the mid-nineteenth century move- ment for industrial education. The agitation for, and the first growth of industrial education occurred before the birth of the modern univer- sity. In Illinois this movement for industrial education directly led to the establishment of a true university. In the increasing democratization of American life coming out of the Jacksonian era, the de- velopment of the movement for industrial edu- cation can be seen. Though eastern labor had demanded equal educational opportunity for many years, this demand in the Midwest was later and slower in growth. In Illinois industrial education meant primarily agricultural educa- tion. And accordingly, it was an agriculturalist who first made known a plan for industrial edu- cation. This agriculturist was . Jonathan Baldwin Turner. Unless otherwise credited, all photographs in the his- torical section are from the University Archives. Tradition of Federal Aid to Education Is Long-Standing In Illinois in the 1850's, there were twelve colleges. All were private and several were women's seminaries. With few exceptions these colleges were little more than resident high schools. Although the federal government had given educational aid, Illinois was without a tradition of public aid to higher education. The Ordinance of 1787 stated that since education was neces- sary to good government and to the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education should be forever encouraged. Land acts fol- lowing this ordinance gave states tracts of land to be sold for educational purposes. The money was appropriated under two categories— the seminary fund and the college fund. The semi- nary fund was endowed by selling two town- ships; the college fund accrued by the levy of a three percent tax on state lands. Forced to use these funds for common expenses, the Illinois Legislature utilized only the interest for educa- tional purposes. It remained for another effort to bring effective public aid to Illinois higher education. Though there were feeble attempts by the Illinois Legislature to give educational aid, noth- ing resulted. The legislature did, in 1852, grant a charter to a small Lutheran college at Millsboro to relocate at Springfield. This charter, however, placed no responsibility on the state to support this new Illinois State University since it was a private college. Champaign's Main Street in 1868 appears prosperous.