For years, I rode by bike past this random marker in the middle of the country, just east of Bloomington-Normal, Illinois.
I did a little research and discovered the monument marks the birthplace of Walter Dill Scott, who rose from a teacher in a one-room schoolhouse to president of Northwestern University. Scott is widely regarded as the “founder” of student affairs. Scott wrote:
The primary purpose of a college training, away and beyond that of imparting a certain amount of factual knowledge, is that of producing changes in the behavior and thinking of students. Every hour of the week, within class and without, should contribute to this underlying purpose.
Quote from Assessment in Student Affairs
In Assessment in Student Affairs, the authors note that Scott’s “insight and determined application of his theories and practice in personnel psychology paved the way for significant changes in what was then known as student personnel work and is now called student affairs. His creation of personnel psychology is sine qua non or “essential to the existence” of the current practice of student affairs.”
About Walter Scott Hill
The Scott Hill monument commemorates the Scott family’s rural beginnings and their impact on the field of education. On the same road is the one room school house where Dill taught (and his mother as well). The one room school still stands as a private residence.
Walter Dill Scott was born on May 1, 1869 on a family farm less than a mile from the tiny village of Fletcher. Walter attended the Fletcher School less than half a mile from his house to the east. For two years, he was the Fletcher correspondent for the Pantagraph.
Walter graduated from Illinois State University in 1891 and later received degrees from Northwestern, Cornell, McCormick Theological Seminary, University of Southern California, and Leipzig University in Germany. Before leaving for Northwestern, he taught at Leroy Schools and was principal of a school in Hudson for one year.
Scott joined the Northwestern faculty around 1910. His research focused on psychology in advertising and aptitude testing. In 1913, he wrote The Psychology of Advertising. During World War I, Scott worked for the U.S. Army in personnel classification, training, and aptitude testing.
Scott was an early leader in the student personnel services and students affairs movement in higher education. Many of his and his protegees’ ideas are still used in student affairs and college advising work today.
Walter became president of Northwestern in 1920 and served for 19 years. When Scott retired, he remarked “when a man reaches the age of 70 he’s worked long enough at any job.” Northwestern University dedicated a new building to Scott when he retired.
Scott maintained close ties to his hometown. He often returned to Bloomington to visit siblings and give speeches at schools, universities, and civic organizations. In June 1935, he and his brother returned to Fletcher School for the 75th anniversary of the school district (the school itself still stands today as a private residence). Hundreds of people attended the event. Eleven years before his death, Scott reflected on his upbringing:
“I remember vividly a poem of my youth, ‘Over the Hill to the Poorhouse.’ Poor farms and orphan asylums were our public institutions then. We made the most of our poverty then. Now we must make the most of our riches. We must learn to behave as rich people.”
Scott died on September 23, 1955 and is buried in Skokie, Illinois.
Scott Hill Monument
The Scott farm house and buildings are long gone. The monument GIS is 40.530653, -88.791184. The school – now a private residence – is on the next corner to the east.
