Beecher Hall is the oldest building on the campus of

Illinois College Illinois College is a private liberal arts college in Jacksonville, Illinois. It is affiliated with the United Church of Christ and the Presbyterian Church (USA). It was the second college founded in Illinois but the first to grant a degree (in ...

Jacksonville Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

. Built in 1829–30, it was the first college building erected in the state of Illinois. The building has served many functions for Illinois College, including housing the first medical school in Illinois in 1843. It is named after the first president of Illinois College,

Edward Beecher Edward Beecher (August 27, 1803 – July 28, 1895) was an American theologian, the son of Lyman Beecher and the brother of Harriet Beecher Stowe and Henry Ward Beecher. Biography Beecher was born August 27, 1803, in East Hampton, New York. He ...

. Beecher Hall is recognized by the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all List ...

as being a stop on the

Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was an organized network of secret routes and safe houses used by freedom seekers to escape to the abolitionist Northern United States and Eastern Canada. Enslaved Africans and African Americans escaped from slavery ...

. The building is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

History

Chartered in 1829, Illinois College was one of the first three colleges chartered in Illinois. It began constructing Beecher Hall the same year, and its first classes took place there on January 4, 1830, before the building was even finished. The college named its first building for its first president, Dr. Edward Beecher, the brother of

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world. The first country to fully outlaw slavery was Kingdom of France, France in 1315, but it was later used ...

Henry Ward Beecher Henry Ward Beecher (June 24, 1813 – March 8, 1887) was an American Congregationalist clergyman, social reformer, and speaker, known for his support of the Abolitionism, abolition of slavery, his emphasis on God's love, and his 1875 adultery ...

and author

Harriet Beecher Stowe Harriet Elisabeth Beecher Stowe (; June 14, 1811 – July 1, 1896) was an American author and Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist. She came from the religious Beecher family and wrote the popular novel ''Uncle Tom's Cabin'' (185 ...

. Beecher Hall served in several capacities for the school through the years, including a dormitory, a library, a fraternity house, and a meeting place for campus literary societies. The building also housed the college's medical school, the first of its kind in Illinois, from 1843 to its discontinuation in 1848. In 1859, the university assigned the second floor of Beecher Hall for the use of Sigma Pi Literary Society.Bradway-Hesse, Becky. �
Bright Access: Midwestern Literary Societies, with a Particular Look at a University for the ‘Farmer and the Poor
’” ''Rhetoric Review'' 17, no. 1 (1998): 65–66. . Its lower level was given to

Phi Alpha Literary Society Phi Alpha () is a men's Literary Society founded in 1845 at Illinois College in Jacksonville, Illinois. It conducts business meetings, literary productions, and other activities in Beecher Hall, the oldest college building in Illinois. History ...

. Both societies still occupy their rooms there, as of 2024. Like his siblings, Edward Beecher was an active abolitionist, and Illinois College was the de facto headquarters of Illinois' antislavery movement. As part of the school's activism, Beecher Hall was a stop on the Underground Railroad. As many Central Illinois residents were pro-slavery before the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

, the school and its students faced criticism and threats for its participation in the abolition movement. One student, Samuel Willard, was fined for his participation in freeing an escaped slave. Beecher Hall is now part of the National Park Service's Network to Freedom, an association of historic sites linked to the Underground Railroad. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on April 8, 1974. The U.S. Postal Service released a 19-cent

postal card Postal cards are postal stationery with an imprinted stamp or indicium signifying the prepayment of postage. They are sold by postal authorities. On January 26, 1869, Dr. Emanuel Herrmann of Austria described the advantages of a ''Corre ...

featuring Beecher in 1993.

References

{{National Register of Historic Places University and college buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Illinois School buildings completed in 1829 Buildings and structures in Morgan County, Illinois Jacksonville, Illinois micropolitan area Illinois College National Register of Historic Places in Morgan County, Illinois Fraternity and sorority houses