The Milan Township District #83 Schoolhouse served as a center for learning from the turn of the century until 1942. In 1942, it was closed and left to deteriorate. However, the schoolhouse was given a new lease on life when it was donated to the Blackwell History of Education Museum in 1996 and then rebuilt on the campus of Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, IL.
Since 1999, the Milan Schoolhouse has been available to
A Blackwell Museum staff member has created lesson plans for students in 1st through 8th grade that allow them to experience a school day in the early 1900s, depending on the teacher's preference. If you would like to reserve the schoolhouse, please call the Blackwell Museum at (815) 753-1236 or e-mail Curator Lucy Townsend.
We wish to thank Dr. Eui-Kyung Shin, assistant professor in the Department of Teaching and Learning, for her guidance of Rebecca Edwards in the development of this curiculum.