Knott, William Ernest. Papers, 1881-1896

William Ernest Knott (1871-1937) graduated from Illinois State Normal University in 1896. He worked as a teacher and principal at schools in Farmer City, Gifford, Atwood, Fisher, and Seymour Ill., between 1896 and 1905, before a severe head injury forced him to retire.

This collection contains two of Knott's grade reports, 1881-82; course papers at Eureka College and Illinois State Normal University, 1891-92 and n.d.; and a note book from a Physics class at Illinois State in 1894. The papers are entitled "A Trip to Minneapolis," "Arctic Explorations," "Self-help in School-Work," "The Education of the Negro," "A Midsummer Night's Dream," and "Virgil's Aeneid."

The collection also includes Knott's teaching certificates for Champaign and DeWitt County schools, where he taught first and second grades, and a sketch of his life by his daughter, Marjory Moshier of Springfield, Ore., who donated the collection to the Illinois Historical Survey in 1967.