| The History of Chicago Armour Institute of Technology High School
Chicago (population 2.8 million) is located in far northeastern Illinois in the center of Cook County. It is currently the third largest city in the United States of America and is one of the most famous cities in the world. Lake Michigan provides Chicago’s eastern most border. Several roadways and railroads, as well as O’Hare and Midway airports, will take you to the city of Chicago. A nice history of early Chicago is found at the web address of http://www.iltrails.org/cook/History_of_Chicago_0_1901.html. It reads as follows: “Fort Dearborn was built near the mouth of the Chicago River in 1804 on land acquired from the Indians by the treaty of Greenville, concluded by Gen. Anthony Wayne in 1795, but was evacuated in 1812, when most of the garrison and the few inhabitants were massacred by the savages. The fort was rebuilt in 1816, and another settlement established around it. The first Government survey was made, 1829-30. Early residents were the Kinzies, the Wolcotts, the Beaubiens and the Millers. The Black Hawk War (1832) rather aided in developing the resources and increasing the population of the infant settlement by drawing to it settlers from the interior for purposes of mutual protection. Town organization was effected on August 10, 1832, the total number of votes polled being 28. The town grew rapidly for a time, but received a set-back in the financial crisis of 1837. During May of that year, however, a charter was obtained and Chicago became a city. The total number of votes cast at that time was 703. The census of the city for the 1st of July of that year showed a population of 4,180.” Chicago residents believed in great educational opportunities for the children of the rapidly growing town. The history of Armour Institute can be viewed at the Wikipedia page addresses of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illinois_Institute_of_Technology and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Danforth_Armour. A brief summary of these articles is as follows: In 1890 a man named Philip Danforth Armour heard a sermon given by a preacher named Frank Gunsaulus. Mr. Armour, a wealthy business man of the time, was moved by Gunsaulus’ sermon about the wealthy’s obligation to provide a good education to all students, not just those of elite families. Mr. Armour donated a million dollars to Mr. Gunsaulus’ cause. This led to the creation of the Armour Institute on the city’s near-southside. An excellent and complete article regarding the history of Armour Institute can be viewed on the Illinois Institute of Technology website address of http://archives.iit.edu/history/armour/index.html . It is through information obtained on the IHSA’s website (www.ihsa.org) the determination was made that Armour Institute offered high school classes during its early history. Information on swimming and golf was found. In the articles the schools is listed as a “secondary school” which meant it offered classes to high school-aged children who had completed a grade school program. This would obviously qualify Armour Institute as a high school by definition. The fact that it is listed in an article on the Illinois High School Association website further solidifies this notion. We are not certain when, perhaps in the late 19-teens, but at some point, Armour Insititute discontinued its offering of high school courses and focused on its leadership in the field of technology. In 1940, Lewis Institute joined forces with Armour to create the Illinois Institute of Technology, which is still going strong today. Armour Institute / Academy High School Quick Facts Year opened: 1893 Year HS courses ceased: late 19-teens? School team nickname: not available School team colors: not available School fight song: not available |
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