Illinois State University, the first public university…
1857 CE
ISU is founded as a training school for teachers in 1857, the same year Illinois' first Board of Education is convened and two years after the Free School Act was passed by the State Legislature.
Among its supporters are judge and future Supreme Court Justice, David Davis and local businessman and land holder Jesse W. Fell, whose friend, Abraham Lincoln, is the attorney hired by the Board of Education to draw up legal documents to secure the school's funding.
Founded as Illinois State Normal University, its name is reflective of its primary mission as a normal school.
Classes are initially held in downtown Bloomington, occupying space in Major's Hall, which was previously the site of Lincoln's "Lost Speech."
Regions
Northern North America
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