John A. Logan College: A Legacy of Education and Community Engagement

John A. Logan College, a public community college in Carterville, Illinois, stands as a beacon of opportunity and growth in southern Illinois. Established in 1967 under the Illinois Junior College Act of 1965, the college enrolled its first students in the fall of 1968 and acquired its permanent campus in 1969. Named for John A. Logan, a Civil War general and U.S. senator from Illinois, the college has a rich history rooted in providing accessible and affordable education to the region.

Foundation and Early Years

John A. Logan College was created by public mandate in 1967. The college was established as part of a more significant movement in the United States during the 1960s to provide greater access to post-secondary education for people in rural and underserved areas. The goal was to provide opportunities for students to earn two-year associate degrees and vocational certificates and transfer to four-year universities. Senator Logan’s speech in support of this public education legislation attracted attention throughout the country. His emphasis on planning for the future helped to refocus and rebuild the nation.

Campus and Extension Centers

John A. Logan College is located near the center of the College district, eight miles west of Interstate 57, on Illinois Route 13. The college district covers most of Williamson and Jackson Counties and parts of Franklin, Perry, and Randolph Counties. The John A. Logan College district consists of one central campus and extension centers in the towns of Du Quoin and West Frankfort. Many courses in baccalaureate transfer, career education, continuing education, and adult literacy are taught in high schools and public facilities throughout the five-county district.

The Alongi Du Quoin Extension Center is located at 72 Southtowne Shopping Center in Du Quoin, IL. The West Frankfort Extension Center is located at 19 West Frankfort Plaza in West Frankfort, IL. These centers are the sites for regular College courses as well as adult and continuing education classes, children’s classes, and seminars for business and industry.

Academics and Programs

John A. Logan College offers career preparation programs and a two-year college transfer curriculum. The college offers associate degrees and certificates in a diverse range of programs, including Nursing and Cyber Security, Welding, and Hospitality Management; our programs are designed to equip students with the skills and knowledge they need to excel in their chosen fields. Under its open admissions policy, the college admits students who have graduated from an accredited high school, completed the GED, or are at least 18 years old. Students wishing to enroll at the College should complete an application form and return it to the Admissions Office at John A. Logan College, 700 Logan College Road, Carterville, Illinois, 62918.

Over the decades, the college expanded its campus and programs to accommodate the growing demand for higher education in the region. One notable development area has been in technical programs, particularly those in health care and technology, in response to the evolving job market.

The College offers day and evening adult education programs at the College extension centers and various locations throughout the College district. Services offered include Adult Basic and Secondary Education, GED Test preparation, literacy tutoring, Work Keys preparation, and English as a Second Language. The Alternative High School program offers high school credit classes to at-risk and dropout youth. The Early School Leaver Program offers an opportunity for high school drop-outs, age 16-24, to obtain career training through an individualized plan. Workplace readiness skills and short-term training opportunities prepare adults for the world of work.

Affordability and Financial Aid

Affordability is central to the mission of John A. Logan College. With one of the lowest tuition rates in the state, the college strives to ensure that financial barriers do not hinder a student’s college dreams. Over 70% of the students receive financial aid, including scholarships funded by the John A. Logan College Foundation through generous donors and annual fundraisers. The College has been approved as a participating institution for grants made by the Illinois Student Assistance Commission and is also approved for federal student aid programs, including veterans benefits. In addition, locally endowed scholarships are available to full-time students through the John A. Logan College Foundation. The John A. Logan College Foundation is a not-for-profit, tax-exempt corporation established to provide financial and other types of support for the College. It encourages giving by individuals, businesses, and other organizations for scholarships, instructional equipment, campus improvements, and other projects that benefit the College.

Athletics

John A. Logan College has one of the top athletic programs in the NJCAA. The College maintains well-balanced sports programs. Intercollegiate team sports offerings include baseball (men's), basketball (men's and women's), golf (men's and women's), softball (women's), and volleyball (women's). Nine men’s and women’s sports compete in the Great Rivers Athletic Conference and Region 24 of the NJCAA. College teams compete in the Great Rivers Athletic Conference and Region 24 of the National Junior College Athletic Association. In addition to multiple conference and regional championships, the school has two National Championships in Men’s Golf and one in Men’s Basketball.

Historical Village

The Robert L. Mees Village Centre was named for the sixth President of John A. Logan College. The Centre serves as the hub of the Harrison/Bruce Historical Village by providing a venue for College and community events. As the College and the Julia Harrison Bruce and Fred G. Harrison Foundations began to discuss construction of the various structures in the Village, it was apparent the success of the Village depended upon the ability to host meetings at the location. By making meeting space available, participants would have the opportunity to stroll through the Village as part of the program for various events.

The Harrison House, Purdy School, and Hunter Log Cabin are all part of the historical village.

Harrison House

This house was built in 1868 by David Ruffin Harrison who lived in it with his first wife Julia A. Walker Harrison (1836-1874) and their children: George H. Harrison (1861-1950), Annabel “Annie” (1864-1926), Albert (1867-1940), LuElla “Ella” (1869-1928), and baby Julia (1874-1874). D.R.’s daughter Anna married Edward Everett Mitchell, a prominent Carbondale banker. “Ella” married John C. Hundley, another of Carbondale’s prominent citizens, and it was Ella Harrison Hundley and her husband who were the victims of the notorious 1928 murders in Carbondale’s Hundley House.

In the fall of 1899, following the deaths of his wife and mother, D.R. Harrison left his farm at Herrin’s Prairie and moved into Herrin where he built a new house at 201 S. 13th St.; this house is now the inner core of the Johnson-Hughes Funeral home. On Saturday, April 7, 1900 he held a public auction of all his personal property including horses, mules, hogs, and farm implements as well as household and kitchen furniture at his “old brick residence in Herrin’s Prairie”. (The First National Bank of Herrin was also organized in April of 1900 with D.R. Harrison as President. He had first gone into banking in 1895, organizing Herrin’s first Exchange Bank, which later became the First National Bank.)

D.R. Harrison sold his 400-acre farm, including the Harrison House, to the Chicago & Carterville Coal company, a firm organized by his son-in-law E.E. Mitchell, and later known as the C.W. & F. Coal Co. From 1901-1936 the Harrison House was home to mine superintendents; then in 1936 it came back into the Harrison family as the home of D.R. After being out of the family for nearly three decades, D.R. Harrison’s granddaughter Julia Harrison Bruce arranged to purchase the house from Sam and Ruby Talley as her personal way of celebrating our nation’s bicentennial. The sale was completed September 5, 1975. The china displayed on the dining table as well as some of the books in the Harrison House Collection belonged to the Talley Family. There are also numerous artifacts in the Harrison House that came from the Pope family. Local craftsman Martin Bruyns and Julia’s husband Carl Bruce spent the next year and a half performing extensive restorations on the house and in the construction of the log cabin in back replicating the one in which the D.R. Harrison family lived prior to the construction of the brick house in 1868.

This “double dog trot” style log cabin is a replica of the cabin the David Ruffin Harrison family occupied prior to the construction of the brick, “Harrison House”. The replica cabin was located just north of the brick house on the approximate site of the original Harrison Log Cabin. Between the two pens is a concrete-floored breezeway, or “dog trot”. Entry into each of the two pens is gained by way of the dog trot through a door in the center of each of the inner walls. In pioneer times this floor plan provided a way of separating the kitchen, with its eternal fire, from the living quarters during summer months. It also provided for a covered passage between the two pens during inclement weather.

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Purdy School

Information on the Robert L. Purdy School served as a one-room public school in Perry County, IL from 1860-1951. Due to an increasing population and the county consolidating the schools, Purdy School ended classes. The building was purchased in 1981 by Mr. and Mrs. Harold Rice. Mr. and Mrs. Rice gave Purdy School to John A. Logan College Foundation as a gift to use as a historic building. On September 16, 19…83 the Julia Harrison Bruce Foundation generously had the school building moved to the John A. Logan College campus. Purdy School is now used as a one-room school to show public students the history of the school setting.

Hunter Log Cabin

Emmanuel Hunter built the Hunter Log Cabin in 1818, the year Illinois became a state. The cabin was located northeast of Marion and east of Whiteash, IL. In 1818 the government was opening up territory in the free state of Illinois and the then slave state of Texas, for veterans of the War of 1812. Emmanuel did not like slavery and decided to move his family from Tennessee to Illinois. While in Tennessee, Emmanuel served in the military with several commissions, fighting in the War of 1812 and in 1814 serving with Andrew Jackson in fighting the Creek Indians. In 1832 he served in the Black Hawk War. When he built the cabin, Emmanuel and his wife Judith Lee Hunter had six children. Originally, there was a loft in the cabin with an opening near the fireplace. The children slept in the loft.

In February 2005 Richard H. Hunter purchased the cabin from Wendell E. Grant who then owned the original Emmanuel Hunter homestead. Richard donated the cabin to the Jacob Hunter Trust, named after the Revolutionary War soldier Jacob Hunter, who was Emmanuel Hunter’s father. In July 2005 the Jacob Hunter Trust donated the cabin to John A. Logan College.

Dr. Robert L. Mees, President of John A. Logan College, saw the historical and educational value of restoring this historic cabin and applied for a grant from the Julia Harrison Bruce Foundation. In 2006 the Foundation provided a generous grant that allowed for the reconstruction on the Logan College campus. The reconstruction was completed in the summer of 2007.

Tours and Events

Tours are available for those wishing to learn more about the local history. Public tours are generally offered the first and third Tuesdays of the month, from April to November, at 10 am and 1 pm. Private tours may also be arranged. Volunteer docents serve as guides for groups or persons wishing to learn more about local history beginning from the early 1800s. Tours are free and last approximately 1 ½ hours.

The college is also active in the community through cultural events, workshops, and collaborations with local businesses and organizations. If you are interested in using this great location for your next get together you can! It is a perfect setting for many occasions but please carefully review our list of guidelines and requirements.

Controversies

In 2016, John A. Logan College faced criticism after terminating multiple full-time faculty members due to budgetary constraints. The layoffs affected several academic departments and led to protests from faculty, students, and community members who argued that the cuts negatively impacted educational quality. Critics accused the administration of financial mismanagement, highlighting concerns that institutional spending priorities favored administrative costs over academic programs.

Three years later, the college was involved in a controversy regarding the destruction of official administrative meeting notes. Reports indicated that key documents were intentionally burned, raising concerns about transparency and compliance with Illinois public records laws. The incident drew public attention when college legal counsel Rhett Barkey defended the administration’s actions, stating that the notes were considered "unofficial" and did not fall under public record requirements. However, critics, including faculty and transparency advocates, argued that the destruction of documents undermined public trust in the institution.

In 2020, college administrators suspended diversity and inclusion activities in response to an executive order issued by then-President Donald Trump. The order, which prohibited certain diversity training programs for federal contractors and grant recipients, led the college to halt related initiatives while conducting a review of its policies. The suspension drew criticism from faculty, students, and advocacy groups who argued that the move undermined efforts to promote inclusivity and address systemic inequities in higher education.

John A. Logan: The Man Behind the Name

John A. Logan, the man after whom John A. Logan College is named, was born February 9, 1826, in what is now Murphysboro, Illinois. In 1840 his father, Dr. John Logan, sent him to Shiloh Academy at Shiloh Hill, Illinois, to complete his education. Logan volunteered for the Mexican War in 1846. The 1850’s brought may changes in Logan’s life - law school at Louisville University; marriage to Mary S. Congressman. At the onset of the Civil War, the formerly pro-Southern Logan decided that “the union must prevail.” He fought at Bull Run as a civilian. Logan volunteered for the war and rose from colonel to major general. Fighting in eight major campaigns, he distinguished himself at Vicksburg and commanded the entire Union forces at the Battle of Atlanta. At the war’s end, he saved Raleigh, North Carolina, from being burned by angry Union troops. After the war, Logan returned to Congress. His concern for veterans led him to take part in Illinois’ first organized veterans memorial services at Woodlawn Cemetery in Carbondale in 1866. Senate. Throughout his political career, he was a strong advocate for public education. In 1884, he was James G. Blaines’ vice-presidential running mate. John A. Logan’s fame did not die with him as the towns and counties named for him show. Fine equestrian statues were erected in Chicago and Washington in his honor. Bronze plaques from Arlington Cemetery to Denver attest to his role in establishing of Memorial Day. Yet the turmoil of the mid-twentieth century saw Logan’s fame fade. In 2002, John A. Logan College erected a statue of Logan at the center of campus. Senator Logan was instrumental in bringing a public awareness of the need for support of education.

Accreditation

Accredited by the Higher Learning Commission since 1972, John A. Logan College is committed to providing high-quality, affordable education to its citizens. JOHN A. Logan College was founded in 1967. It is accredited by North Central Association of Colleges and Schools.

Distance Learning

It first offered distance learning courses in 1979. In fall 2004, there were 700 students enrolled in distance learning courses. Institutionally administered financial aid is available to distance learners. Services Distance learners have accessibility to academic advising, campus computer network, career placement assistance, library services, tutoring.

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