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 Education is Key – Community Colleges features 62 interviews of
teachers, administrators and legislators who helped build a network
of colleges serving nearly one million students each year. The
interviews cover the creation of the community college system 50
years ago and touch on a multitude of issues, including its role in
civil rights, educating women and serving older students.
Volunteer Philip Pogue, former superintendent of the Greenville
School District, conducted the interviews in 2013 and early 2014. He
traveled the entire state and visited every community college
district.
“Phil has done a great service for the people of Illinois,” said Dr.
Mark DePue, director of the presidential library’s Oral History
Program. “His hard work preserves the voices and memories of those
who saw the need for colleges that would provide an affordable
education and enrich their communities.”
Illinois has 39 community college districts operating 48 individual
colleges and one consortium. The colleges ensure a quality education
is available to Illinoisans throughout the state. In fact, more
students are enrolled in community colleges than in the state's many
four-year institutions.
Community colleges perform many functions beyond preparing students
for traditional four-year institutions. These include worker
retraining, adult education, and certification programs. They are a
point of pride for communities across the state.
“As we prepare to recognize our 50-year anniversary as a system in
2015, we want the people of Illinois to recognize the value of our
excellent community colleges,” said Karen Anderson, executive
director of the Illinois Community College Board. “Illinois
community colleges touch the lives of almost one million students
each year. We are fortunate to have the best community college
system in the world right here in Illinois.”
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The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library’s Oral History
Program can be found at
www.oralhistory.illinois.gov. The community college
interviews are at
http://tinyurl.com/CollegeOralHistory.
The interviews explain how community colleges sometimes
struggled to improve their campuses and escape derogatory labels
like “Tinker Toy Tech.” They include student memories from an
all-female college in the 1950s and from an aide to the governor
who oversaw creation of the community college system.
Michael S. Monaghan, executive director of the Illinois
Community College Trustees Association, added: “The history of
the creation and evolution of the Illinois community college
system is an important chapter in the story of higher education.
I commend the staff at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library
and Museum for their diligent work to record and preserve this
important part of history.”
[Text received; CHRIS WILLIS, Abraham
Lincoln Presidential Library & Museum]
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