Jacksonville High School

1
Jacksonville High School

• The First Free Public High School in the State of
  Illinois

2
Partners in Crime

• Joseph Duncan, Stephen A. Douglas, Edward
  Beecher, and Jonathan B. Turner worked to get
  free schooling for the children of West Central
  Illinois.

3
The Firsts

• Newton Bateman organized the first public high
  school in Illinois to include Freshmen,
  Sophomores, Juniors, and Seniors (in
  Jacksonville) in 1851. This was 14 years before
  Chicago had a high school. Illinois was the 2nd
  state to have a high school (the 1st being Mass.)

4
Subjects Offered

• Algebra, Geometry, Trigonometry, Conic Sections,
  Navigation, Surveying, Latin Grammar, Caesar,
  Euclid, Virgil, Natural Philosophy, Chemistry,
  Astronomy, Political Economics, Constitutional
  Law, Botany, Physiology, and Physical Geography

5
Going the Distance

• At one time, students traveled from seven states
  to attend Jacksonville High School.

6
First School Building!

• The first high school with its own building was
  officially opened on September 9, 1867 and named
  Newton Bateman Memorial High School. It was
  built where Washington School is today.

7
Girls Rule!

• The First Graduation Ceremony was held on May 31,
  1872 at the Congregational Church. There were
  only three graduates and they were all females.

8
Junior High

• The first seventh grade was inaugurated in 1873
  and the first eighth grade 1892. They were
  started because so many students dropped out of
  high school because it was too difficult. They
  went from elementary school straight into high
  school.

9
Oh no!!

• A new building for Newton Bateman Memorial High
  School was built at the site of the Jacksonville
  High School Apartments. It was opened on November
  13, 1901, and it burned down on March 14, 1918.
  A new building was built in the exact same spot a
  year later.

10
We are Important

• The University of Illinois thought Newton Bateman
  Memorial High School was one of the strongest
  high schools in the state.

• Jacksonville hosted the first basketball
  tournament on February of 1916. Many other
  basketball events were hosted in Jacksonville
  after this.

11
Newton Bateman

• Graduate of Illinois College
• Was a principal in the district and was
  Superintendent of Public Instruction for the
  state
• President of Knox College
• Was good friends with Abraham Lincoln, Bateman
  was the last person to shake his hand before he
  left for Washington D.C. to be sworn in as
  President
• The JHS National Honor Society Chapter is named
  after him!

12
In the Last 25 Years

• The current Jacksonville High School was
  dedicated on August 29, 1982.
• Barack Obama spoke at JHS in 2004.