Category Archives: Education

Bunn School cooking class, 1910 (photo)

A cooking class at Bunn School, circa 1910. The school was at 12th and Division streets. (Photo: Sangamon Valley Collection)

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Jabez Capps (1828 pioneers)

Jabez Capps (1796-1896), one of several energetic siblings who made their marks in both the U.S. and England, was a prominent merchant between 1819, when he arrived in Sangamon County, until 1836, when he moved away and helped found the … Continue reading

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Concordia Theological Seminary

Concordia Theological Seminary educated prospective Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod clergy from 1876 until 1975 1976 on a campus north and east of 12th and Carpenter streets in Springfield. (The Missouri Synod took over the facilities after Illinois State University, a Lutheran … Continue reading

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Elizabeth Graham (First Citizen)

Elizabeth Graham (1892-1982), though a Springfield High School English teacher and department head for nearly 40 years, is best known for her unswerving dedication to the poetry and memory of Vachel Lindsay. Graham. born in Galena, attended a Lindsay recitation … Continue reading

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Ambidexter Institute

The Ambidexter Institute was a private “industrial school” that operated from 1901 until 1908 at 902 S. 12th St. (As of 2014, the building, generally known as the Judge John Taylor House, was in disrepair, but the Springfield Project, a … Continue reading

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Home and Hospital for Fallen Women

The Home and Hospital for Fallen Women opened in 1868 at 902 S. 12th St., a building known generally as the Judge John Taylor House. The purpose of the Home and Hospital was described in 1871 in a pious, and … Continue reading

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Carrol Hall (First Citizen)

Carrol Hall (1905-95) was a co-founder and first president of Springfield-based Horace Mann Insurance Co. In 1945, Hall joined with fellow teacher Les Nimmo to create Horace Mann (originally named the IEA Mutual Insurance Co.). The firm at first offered … Continue reading

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Horace Mann insurance

Two Springfield public school teachers, Carrol Hall and Les Nimmo, founded the Illinois Education Association Mutual Assurance Co. in 1945 to market auto insurance to Illinois teachers. The company, later named Horace Mann Educators Corp. to honor the pioneering educator, soon … Continue reading

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Illinois High School Association state champions (teams)

This entry has been updated through 2019 and also to correct the omission of two championships won by teams from Pleasant Plains High School. Thanks to Mike Barlow (see comments) for pointing out the omissions. GIRLS Cross-country Sacred Heart-Griffin High … Continue reading

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Illinois State University (Springfield)

Illinois State University – no relation to the current ISU in Bloomington-Normal – operated in Springfield from 1852 to 1870. The Lutheran-backed college originally opened in Hillsboro in 1847, when it was officially named the Literary and Theological Institute of … Continue reading

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