The most memorable field trip I took when I was in school was when my eighth grade class went to Springfield in May, 1953.
Our history class had recently finished studying the Illinois Constitution, so our teacher decided that a trip to Springfield would be of educational value. The students arrived at Holmes School at 5:30 a.m. on a Thursday, and the chartered bus left a half-hour later.
The 50 students were accompanied by our history teacher, the school librarian, and three mothers of eighth-grade students.
The bus drove us down Route 66 toward Springfield.
We stopped at a diner in Pontiac in order to stretch and to use the facilities, and while there, two mothers took a cigarette break.
Our first stop on the tour was New Salem Village which was where Abraham Lincoln lived, worked as a store clerk, and studied law when he was in his 20s.
The guides who were dressed in period garb told us what life was like in New Salem in the 1830s. They also warned us to stay on the path through the village and not to pet any of the horses, sheep or goats that were corralled behind a wooden fence. And they told us not to go near the Sangamon River which flowed through the village.
Well, two boys from our group did go to the river, slipped on the embankment and slid into the river, and were soaked from their feet to their waists. Even though the temperature was 80 degrees, their clothing remained wet for most of the trip.
We had brought sack lunches, so we took a half-hour break to eat and use the facilities before heading to Springfield.
We arrived in Springfield in a half hour, and our first stop was the Old State Capitol building where Lincoln delivered the House Divided speech, and where he launched his presidential campaign against Stephen Douglas in 1860.
The next stop was the current State Capitol building. This magnificent structure capped by a zinc coated copper dome glistened in the sunlight. While there, we briefly attended a legislative session and listened to two lawmakers engage in an argument.
The only home Lincoln ever owned was the next stop. I thought the rooms would be larger, but the house seemed cramped to me.
One feature of the property that drew attention was the outhouse. Most of the students had never seen an outhouse, much less ever used one, so the guide explained its function. A couple of guys wanted to inspect the facility, but it was locked and not open to the public.
The last stop before leaving Springfield was Oak Ridge Cemetery, the final resting place for Lincoln and all members of his family except for his son Robert, who is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
I was familiar with Oak Ridge because many of my ancestors are buried there.
We left Springfield around 5:30 p.m., and after an hour and a half we stopped in Bloomington for supper.
We arrived at Holmes School around 10:30 p.m., and we were greeted by our principal who told us that we could come to school an hour late the next day if we were not on patrol.
Eight of us manned patrol posts, so Friday was like any other school day.
Although I had been to Springfield and its environs many times before taking the field trip, I had not seen all of the places that our class visited, so the trip was both memorable and educational.
John Stanger is a lifelong resident of Oak Park, a 1957 graduate of OPRF High School, married with three grown children and five grandchildren, and a retired English professor (Elmhurst College). Living two miles from where he grew up, he hasn’t gotten far in 79 years.