Eyestone School Museum

Identification Plaque Text

Plaque 1: THIS TYPICAL ONE ROOM SCHOOL OF THE EARLY 1900 PERIOD WAS RESTORED AND MOVED TO THIS LOCATION FROM A SITE SOUTHWEST OF NORMAL. THE PROJECT WAS SPONSORED BY THE I.S.U. ALUMNI ASSOCIATION TO COMMEMORATE THE PART THE ONE ROOM SCHOOL HAS PLAYED IN EDUCATION IN OUR NATION. THE SCHOOL WAS DEDICATED MAY 1965, IN HONOR OF MISS LURA EYESTONE, WHO BEGAN HER TEACHING CAREER IN A ONE ROOM SCHOOL IN Mc LEAN COUNTY AND WHO WAS AN OUTSTANDING TEACHER IN THE LABORATORY SCHOOL OF I.S.U. FOR MANY YEARS.

Plaque 2: Eyestone School, formerly known as ROSE HILL SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 143 Originally located west of Normal on Hovey Road Building Donated by Dr. and Mrs. G. J. Kruger Building Refurbished by ISU Alumni and Friends.

Description

The Eyestone School Museum is a one-room, old-fashioned schoolhouse that has been refurbished with wooden desks, McGuffey Readers, slates, and a coal stove typical from the early 1900s. The school, once known as the Rose Hill School, was previously located on Hovey Road. In 1962, a 90-year birthday celebration for Lura Eyestone was held as the schoolhouse was moved to its current location, currently the ISU campus. The renovation and furnishing of the school cost about $10,000, paid by the ISU Alumni and Friends. The school was renamed in 1964, to honor Ms. Lura Eyestone, a loyal alumna and a retired member of the Thomas Metcalf School, and to commemorate the part played by the one-room schools in the development of the education of Illinois. Eyestone graduated from Illinois State Normal University in 1892, taught at the Rose Hill School in 1893, and joined the Illinois State faculty from 1903 till 1939.

The school was moved to its present location as part of a project sponsored by the ISU Alumni Association in 1965. The school was dedicated to Lura Eyestone as a part of the Normal Centennial celebration. Lura was honored in this way because she began her career in the one-room schoolhouse and was recognized as an outstanding teacher in the laboratory school of ISU for many years. The Eyestone School, one of the best-kept, one-room schoolhouses in the county, is now a museum where students of today can learn about what it was like to be a student during the time period that Lura was a teacher. Lyra was born in Bloomington, IL, in 1872 and passed away at the age of 92, in 1965.

Reference Sources

• “Alumni Give Old School As Museum.” The Vidette (Normal, IL). October 29, 1964. https://videttearchive.ilstu.edu/?a=d&d=vid19641029-01.2.60&e=——-en-20–1–txt-txIN——-
• “Eyestone School Museum.” n.d. Visit BN. Accessed July 6, 2023. https://www.visitbn.org/visit/9154/eyestone-school-museum/
• Jessup, Erin. “Eyestone, Lura.” McLean County Museum of History. Accessed July 6, 2023. https://mchistory.org/research/biographies/eyestone-lura
• “Lura Eyestone.” Wikipedia. May 2, 2023. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lura_Eyestone