Grundy County IL Archives Biographies.....Armstrong, James E 1855 - 
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Author: Bio/Gen Record LaSalle/Grundy, 1900

James E. Armstrong

One of the most prominent educators connected with the public schools of 
Illinois is James E. Armstrong, who is now principal of the Englewood high 
school. His marked ability has gained him prestige, for his scholarly 
attainments are supplemented by superior ability in imparting clearly and 
concisely to others the knowledge he has acquired. With a just appreciation of 
the importance of his work he has given to it the most earnest thought, study 
and investigation, and his methods are therefore progressive and intensely 
practical, serving as an excellent preparation for the duties of life.

Mr. Armstrong is one of Illinois’ native sons, his birth having occurred in 
LaSalle county, on the 30th of November, 1855. Like so many of the most 
prominent men in professional circles, his boyhood days were spent upon the 
farm, and the work of field and meadow gave to him the strong physical 
development needed in carrying on his labors in later life, he followed the 
plow and assisted in the harvesting through the summer months, while in the 
winter season he pursued his education in the district schools.  At the age of 
nineteen he was employed to teach the school which he had attended up to that 
time, and, though younger than many of his pupils, he was so successful in the 
work that lie was again employed to teach that school through the following 
winter. During those two winter months the lash, which had formerly been 
considered as essential in the matter of education as the text-books or 
blackboard, was banished. The excellent results which attended his work in the 
district school determined his future career. With the money earned during the 
first winter he paid his expenses while attending the village high school in 
Marseilles during the spring and fall months, and with the money earned during 
his second season of teaching he entered upon a college course in the 
University of Illinois. He was graduated in the class of 1881 with such high 
honors that he was made instructor in mathematics in that institution the 
following year.  After a year’s service he was elected principal of a village 
school in Arlington Heights, Cook county, where he remained for three years, 
during which time he greatly advanced the standard of the schools there.

On the expiration of that period he resigned in order to accept a position in 
the Lake high school of Chicago, as instructor in sciences. In that school he 
established the first chemical laboratory in the Chicago high schools in which 
the pupils performed the work. During his services there he and a fellow 
teacher wrote and published Armstrong & Norton’s Chemical Laboratory Guide, 
the book now being used in high schools throughout the country. In 1889 he was 
appointed principal of the Lake high school, and two years later was 
transferred to the Englewood high school, which position he still fills. This 
school ranks second in size in Chicago, and if ranked by honors taken in 
prizes for scholarships, essays, orations, athletic banners and art displays 
it would stand first. Professor Armstrong is in close touch with the work done 
in every department of the school, and is ever ready and willing to aid 
teachers and pupils that intellectual progress may be carried still further 
forward. Advancement is the watchword of the school, and the thoroughness and 
proficiency of the work well qualifies the students for the practical duties 
which may devolve upon them in the active affairs of life.  The habits of 
thoroughness and mental concentration which are there formed may prove 
important elements in their careers after leaving the school-room, and it is 
because Professor Armstrong regards education as the preparation for life that 
his school has been so successful. He attributes his success largely to his 
training on the farm, where as a boy he had to learn to be independent. A 
maxim then instilled into his mind was, “When a thing gets out of order fix 
it,” and another was, “Save everything: if it is not good for one purpose save 
it for another.”  These principles have largely influenced his career as an 
educator and in a great degree have been the means of winning for him the high 
position which he now occupies in educational circles.

In the year 1892 Professor Armstrong was elected on the state ticket as a 
trustee of the University of Illinois. In this capacity he served for six 
years, taking a prominent part in conducting the affairs of the school. As the 
chairman of the committee he secured for the university its able president, 
Dr. A. S. Draper. It was also due to his efforts that the College of 
Physicians and Surgeons of Chicago and the Chicago College of Pharmacy became 
departments of the university. He was honored by the position of president of 
the board of trustees of the university during the year 1897-8, and his wise 
counsel and effective labors resulted in raising its standard of education 
higher than ever before.

Professor Armstrong was married July 12, 1883, to Miss Clara A. Clark, a 
daughter of Lucius Clark, of Marseilles. They now have two children, — Grace 
C. and Charles H.  Their home is the center of a cultured satiety circle, and 
their friends are many in the section of the city where they live.  Professor 
Armstrong is a man of broad humanitarian principles, and a deep and personal 
interest in the welfare of his pupils has been one of the strong elements in 
his success as an educator.

Additional Comments:
Source:  Biographical and Genealogical Record of La Salle and Grundy County, 
Illinois, Volume 11, Chicago, 1900, p483-485

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