How Illinois College Became the "Blueboys"
The story of how Illinois College athletes came to be know as the "Blueboys" originates from the years shortly after the Civil War. It is a colorful tale.

To Understand Illinois College, one must look east to the Ivy League universities. The founders of Illinois College came from Connecticut in the late 1820's when the famous "Yale Bands" set out to establish "beacons of enlightenment" in the rough and rugged American West. Illinois College was the first college in Illinois. Other "Yale Band" colleges include Beloit in Wisconsin, Wabash in Indiana, Grinnell in Iowa, and Knox in Illinois.

The rich New England heritage that came west with the founders of Illinois College was reflected in the college’s early philosophy. This was a school that was staunchly in favor of abolishing slavery. In fact, the first president of IC was Edward Beecher, brother of Harriett Beecher Stowe, author of "Uncle Tom’s Cabin." It was common throughout the 1840's and 1850's for prominent abolitionists to visit Illinois College and speak out against slavery. Among these leaders were Frederick Douglas and Abraham Lincoln.

To no one’s surprise, nearly all of the students attending Illinois College in 1861 exchanged their textbooks for muskets and signed up to fight for the North in the great war between the states. The Civil War virtually put a halt to the process of education at Illinois College as her students headed off to fight for a cause the truly believed in. In effect, the men of Illinois College were "The Blueboys," the same name that came to be used in history books to describe the infantrymen of the Union Army.

When the war had been won, many of these "Blueboys" returned to Illinois College and completed their education. For many years, it was common for groups or informal teams of athletes from the school to be called the Blueboys, in deference to their wartime role. By the late 1880's, when organized competition was underway in baseball and football, the college unofficially adopted the nickname "Blueboys" for its athletes. The name seemed appropriate then, as it does now, over a century later.

 

 

Illinois College
1101 West College Avenue
Jacksonville, IL 62650
217.245.3030

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