April 5, 2021
#355

Thank you, Barbara Schock, for sharing your extraordinary gift of these vignettes of Galesburg & 19th century American history.

Brown's Business College

By Barbara Schock

In 1876 George Churchill wrote a history of Galesburg in recognition of the centennial of the founding of the United States. One of the subjects he described was Brown’s Business College. It was an asset which the business community appreciated. The students were trained for clerical and bookkeeping jobs which businesses required. Beautiful handwriting was a skill taught at the school as well.
 
The first business college was established in Galesburg in 1860. It was named the Western Business College. In 1864 it became Brown’s Business College. It was a major asset to the city and attracted students from a wide area. Young men and women gained skills at the school which enabled them to get jobs after high school.
 
In the late nineteenth century as farm work became more mechanized, the young people who had grown up on family farms were looking for opportunities in towns and cities across the country. There were jobs such as being a maid in a wealthy home, but the pay wasn’t adequate and the work was backbreaking.
 
Brown’s Business College conducted four terms per year and students could complete their studies in ten to fifteen months. The focus was on job skills that could lead to particular types of employment such as typing and bookkeeping.
 
In 2000 a Register-Mail reporter interviewed several former students of the College. They described the friendly atmosphere and the willingness of the teachers to help students. The school was located on the third floor of a building that still stands on the southeast corner of Cherry and Simmons streets.
 
In 1965 the Illinois legislature approved a plan for a network of community colleges across the state. Local groups provided leadership in establishing districts for each school following referendums of approval. In this area the school was named Carl Sandburg College.
 
The college provided two-year programs for students who planned to continue their academic studies at four-year colleges and universities. It also provided vocational classes for students who wanted to become nurses and auto mechanics as well as a variety of other technical jobs.
 
In the beginning Sandburg College paid the faculty of Brown’s Business College to teach business courses. Eventually, Brown’s was absorbed into the Sandburg curriculum.
 
When Carl Sandburg was growing up in Galesburg he was employed in a variety of jobs which weren’t particularly interesting. They didn’t pay well and the work had to be performed in all kinds of weather. Since he didn’t have money to ride the street car, he had to walk several miles to work. Some of his employers were kind, but others were unkind or didn’t provide any instruction on how to do the work.
 
After attending Lombard University for several years Sandburg concluded he was “going to be a writer or a bum.” He persevered and became a world renowned writer. Many generations have benefited from his efforts.
 
The students of Brown’s Business College dedicated themselves to improving their skills and were able to find satisfying jobs to support themselves for the rest of their lives. They were an asset to the community.