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- George "Guy" Bassett died from a stroke while teaching class at Western Illinois University.
George was a 1902 graduate of the University of Illinois in Champaign. George was the head of geology and geography at Western Illinois University in Macomb.
The Faculty: Losses and Holdovers
Several faculty members brought to Western by Bayliss also had a sizable impact during the Morgan years. One was Herbert Bassett, second from the left above. He was born and raised near La Salle and graduated from Illinois State Normal University in 1894. After serving as a principal and superintendent in four towns and receiving his bachelor's degree from the University of Illinois, he was hired in 1908 to teach geography. During his twenty-nine-year career he labored to raise course standards to the college level, and he often illustrated his lectures with stereopticon slides based on his own travels. The editors of the Sequel once commented that "his teaching was exact and vigorous," and "his sharp disapproval of laggards" caused his courses to be taken seriously. Like many early faculty members, Bassett took graduate coursed in the summers, so he earned a master's degree from the University of Wisconsin in 1916. Shorly afterward, he became head of the Geography Department.
Supporting the War Efford
Western supported the war effort in a number of ways. Normal students took mandatory courses in food and fuel conservation, and training school students planted a "war garden". One faculty member, Herbert Bassett, was called to Washington to serve on the War Trade Board.
Two Faculty Losses and Some New Arrivals
Two long-serving faculty member died suddenly in the mid-1920's. On December 12, 1927, the head of the Geography Department, Herbert Bassett, also died of a stroke, which occurred while he was teaching a class. His funeral was held in the Arts Building, and the college was closed so faculty and students could attend. Once again, the Courier was filled with tributes. The way that Western responded to the deaths of Buckner and Bassett reveals the sense of community that pervaded the college in the first half of the century.
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Bassett Family Association Database
1870 - 1927 (57 years)