Springfield High School
Address
101 South Lewis Street Springfield , Illinois 62704 United States
Coordinates	39°48′04″N 89°39′40″W / 39.801°N 89.661°W / 39.801; -89.661
Information
School type	public secondary
Opened	1857
School district	Springfield Public Schools District 186[1]
Superintendent	Jennifer Gill [2]
Principal	Lisa Leardi[3]
Faculty	103[3]
Grades	9–12
Gender	co-ed
Enrollment	1,438 (2023-24)[4]
Average class size	23 [5]
Campus type	Urban
Color(s)	red   black
Slogan	We Are Springfield
Athletics conference	Central State Eight
Mascot	Solon
Team name	Senators[6]
Newspaper	The Senator[7]
Yearbook	Capitoline[8]
Website	https://www.sps186.org/o/springfield

Springfield High School (SHS) is a public secondary school located in Springfield, Illinois, United States. It is the oldest of the three high schools in Springfield Public Schools District 186 (the other two being Southeast High School and Lanphier High School). The school draws mainly from the west side of Springfield.

While the school opened in 1857, the current building was opened in 1916. A number of notable alumni have called the school home, with the writer Vachel Lindsay being the most associated with the town, which featured prominently in his writings.

Building history and architecture

Springfield High School opened on 4 September 1857 in a small building on Market Street, now known as Capitol Avenue.^[9] It was located in this building for only a single school year before it moved to the Academy Building on South 5th Street near Monroe until 1864. In 1865, a $65,000 school building was completed for the high school and was located on 4th and Madison Street.^[9] Due to congestion, Central High School was built in 1897, but was already overcrowded by 1915.

In 1917, Springfield High School opened at 101 S. Lewis St, previously the site of a church and Hutchinson Cemetery. The church was gone, but there were still gravestones and remains that were moved to Oak Ridge Cemetery before construction could begin. The construction had a cost of $500,000 and could support up to 1,500 students.^[9]

There are four mosaics on the exterior walls of the building completed by Henry Chapman Mercer.^[10] The original molds are a part of the Moravian Pottery and Tile Works.

Academics

In 2008, SHS had an average composite ACT score of 22.0, and graduated 91.0% of its senior class.^[5] Springfield High School has not made Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) on the Prairie State Achievement Examination, which with the ACT, comprise the State of Illinois' assessment as part of the federal No Child Left Behind Act.^[5] The school, overall, did not meet AYP in mathematics, and two student subgroups failed to meet AYP in both mathematics and reading.^[5]

SHS offers 14 AP classes, including Biology, Chemistry, and Physics C. Other AP classes available include Art History, German Language and Culture, and Psychology.^[5]

Student life

Notable alumni

• Charles A. Bane (class of 1930) was a prominent jurist and civil rights activist. He was nominated by President Richard Nixon to the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, but never confirmed.^[19]
• Thom Bishop (class of 1969) is a songwriter, author, producer, playwright, and educator.
• Thomas A. Broady (class of 1896) was a ragtime piano composer and performer.^[20]
• Cheri Bustos (class of 1979) served as the U.S. representative from Illinois's 17th congressional district from 2013 to 2023.
• J. Edward Day (class of 1932) was a lawyer and political appointee who served as Illinois State Insurance Commissioner before being appointed U.S. Postmaster General (1961–63) by President John F. Kennedy.^[19]
• Toy Dorgan (class of 1963) is a former speed skater who placed 14th in the 3,000 meter event at the 1968 Winter Olympics. She later took up cross-country skiing, winning the Australian national championship five times.^[21]
• John Porter East (class of 1949) was a U.S. Senator from North Carolina (1981–86).
• Ruth Ellis was the oldest known open lesbian, and an LGBT rights activist. Her life was the subject of a documentary, Living With Pride: Ruth C. Ellis @ 100. She formed the Ruth Ellis Center, a social service agency dedicated to helping LGBTQ teens and youth adults experiencing homelessness.^[22]
• Robert Fitzgerald (class of 1928) is known for translating many Greek texts into the English versions that many consider the standard. From 1984–85, he was Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress, the equivalent of Poet Laureate of the United States.^[19]
• Richard Fortman (class of 1933) was a champion checkers player and authority on the game.^[23][24]
• Jerry Fry (class of 1974) is a former Major League Baseball player, briefly playing for the Montréal Expos in 1978.^[25]
• William Howarth (class of 1958) is a writer and professor at Princeton University. He studies the relationship between man and nature, especially as expressed in literature.^[19]
• Justin Knoedler (class of 1998) was a catcher for the San Francisco Giants (2004–06).^[26]
• Vachel Lindsay (class of 1897) was a poet (The Golden Book of Springfield, Bryan, Bryan, Bryan, Bryan, Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight).^[19]
• William H. Luers (class of 1947) is a career United States Foreign Service officer who served as United States Ambassador to Venezuela (1978–82) and Czechoslovakia (1983–86). He later served as president of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.^[19]
• James S. Martin Jr. (class of 1938) was the NASA Project Manager for the Viking program.^[19]
• Steve McClure is an Illinois Senator who represents the 54th district.^[27]
• Jared Palomar (class of 2002) is a bass player for the California-based band Augustana.
• Robin Roberts (baseball) played professional baseball and is in the Baseball Hall of Fame. He attended SHS for two years before the boundaries changed and he was relocated to Lanphier High School.^[28]
• Dave Robisch (class of 1967) played professional basketball in both the ABA and NBA (1971–84). His uniform number 40 is retired by the University of Kansas.^[29][30]
• Ducky Schofield (class of 1953) is a former MLB player for the St. Louis Cardinals, Pittsburgh Pirates, San Francisco Giants, New York Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers, Boston Red Sox, and Milwaukee Brewers.
• Hiram Sherman was an actor, both on television, and on Broadway. He twice won a Tony Award (Two's Company, How Now Dow Jones).^[19]
• Edward Sternaman was a running back for the Chicago Bears. From 1920–32 he was the co-owner of the Bears with George Halas.^[31]
• Joey Sternaman was a professional football quarterback (1922–30), playing most of his career with the Chicago Bears.^[32]
• N. Ronald Thunman (class of 1949) served 35 years of active duty in the United States Navy, rising to the rank of vice-admiral. His work included Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Submarine Warfare and Chief of Naval Education and Training. Thunman was the commander of the first-year class of John McCain.^[19][33][34]
• Bob Trumpy (class of 1963) is a former Pro Bowl tight end for the Cincinnati Bengals (1968–77). He is currently a broadcaster with the NFL on Westwood One.^[19]
• Harlington Wood Jr. (class of 1938) was a jurist and lawyer who served on the United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois (1973–76) and United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (1976–2008). While working for the United States Department of Justice in 1973, he led negotiations that ended the Wounded Knee incident.^[19]

References

External links

• Springfield High School website