While Illinois State Normal University’s first president, Charles Edward Hovey (1827-1897), served in that role for only four years (1857-1861), his impact on the campus can still be felt to this day. This small collection gathers together important foundational documents of the university, as well as a few letters in Hovey’s hand and a grouping of family photographs. It also contains several documents created after Hovey’s death memorializing his legacy and that of his son, the poet Richard Hovey.
A native of Thetford, Vermont, Hovey graduated from Dartmouth College in 1852. For the next five years, he served as a school administrator in Peoria, Illinois. In 1857, the Board of Education of Illinois chose Hovey to become the first “principal” of the new state teachers’ college at Normal. Hovey left that role at the advent of the Civil War to lead the 33rd Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment (also known as the Teacher’s Regiment), which was made up of ISNU students. After the war, Hovey settled in Washington D.C. with his wife, Hariette Farnham (Spofford) Hovey, and two surviving sons, Richard and Alfred.
Hovey returned to the ISNU campus a few times in later years, most notably on the occasion of the university’s 40th anniversary in 1897. Hovey died later that year on November 17 and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors. To honor his commitment and service to the campus, the administration building was renamed Hovey Hall in 1959.
This collection is organized into five series:
A full description of the Charles E. Hovey Presidential Papers can be found in the collection’s finding aid.
