History Of
Western Illinois University
Laboratory School:
The Training
School
The Campus
School
Whatever its name, the teacher training school that was part of Western Illinois University in the 20th century was very special, from its auspicious beginning in the early1900s until its demise over seven decades later. Its doors have been closed for nearly 30 years but its spirit lives on in the heart and soul of the 3000 Western Academy/ Western High alumni as well as their teachers, administrators, parents, employees, and friends who to this day realize they were blessed to be a part of this unique educational institution.
We are the beneficiaries of its legacy.
That is why we gather each year at Heritage
Days: to celebrate our common heritage.
Part II: The Academy Building: 1928 through 1938
Part III: The New Training School Building: 1938 through
1968
Part IV: Horrabin Hall, The “All Age School”: 1968
through 1973
Written
By
John
Sherman Knowles,
Western
High School Class of 1968
2004
Adapted
In Part With Permission From
FIRST
CENTURY: A PICTORIAL HISTORY OF WESTERN
ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY By Professor John Hallwas
Available
at the University Union Bookstore
REFLECTIONS:
A HISTORY OF THE LABORATORY SCHOOL
By
members of the Western High School Class of 1973, “The Last Class”
Judy
Sargent ‘73, Editor
Dr.
Beth Stiffler, faculty advisor
THE
PURPLE AND THE GOLD
By
Professor Victor Hicken
Available
at the University Union Bookstore
and
Various Epilogues,
other publications and numerous interviews with Western Academy and Western
High students and educators
Special
Thanks
Marla
Vizdal and the archivists at the WIU library for their research assistance.
My
family, who all graduated from Western Illinois University with teaching
degrees; my father Buck Knowles (Western Academy 1940), the story teller
of our family, for his stories about the Academy; my mother Shirley
Goodman Knowles (Evanston High School, 1942), the English teacher of our
family, for her editorial insights; my brother Steve Knowles (WHS 1967),
the scholar of the family, for his unbelievable memory; and my sister Nancy
Knowles Kucharz (MHS 1971), also a teacher and the only Bomber of the
family, for helping me keep perspective.
William
and Lucinda Robertson Knowles, my
great-great-great-grandparents who moved west to McDonough County, Illinois in
1838.
My
great-great aunt Etta Knowles, who graduated in 1906
from the first Western Academy class and became a teacher in the Macomb Public
Schools.
My
son, Ian Bryan Knowles, the joy of my life.