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; y ;:j^’;*Cvk ••.>■. 'J-' '.• %■ ^ v • -jaft'-;-ivVV .*iV-'- ■•'• ?'•/'- .;••.•■'•.' ■■• *&J8F c•• .;. •■•-••• •>• ,vr->v:..-v'SJir.,_«* .'.'-1''-' .’: ,'■ ">''''’ ."' L' ’’' ', ': - V V ,'.' '■; ' /tT''' - ''"' " S»ra*l J>i s&s. «$3g« l&iiS SsSPiS fiftal ■■ ■■■ ■: . V - ■■': ■ ' — /■■ XSX -„Y :;\ ,:'pj - r » *f- ' * W' --X-=- *-V■-1•^r'_ -V»£->l-f!as-r ■' V -*»~ v w .>•'?'■- --V', f^n'v'« ,-V'v'*-, .WX'- S' \ ^ * • ’ 'i-: ■ ■--•«. >.i.-,,-‘. ;■ . • '-..V'- . ■■, ^ /- a _ \ ' - ^.'-T ?S i- ■ --2L' $£.. • ‘ Vfv ?.- sis illllt tS’S' ’ii K.yft j. *'< >■■ 4.?•,‘;I |/ -■' '•*• ■ -' . « -.'!' ■ . ■ -•’.. v ' f ;;: I f / -' i tMMWl t '■■ fm% mwfim His blue chambray shirt and bib overalls dirty from a day spent in the fields, Bill Glasscock stood in his garage staring with much anticipation at his newest project. The 1,500-pound bronze bell sat on a ment, dedication and pride in the history “[They] used their total sum of knowledge concrete apron before him, the plaster of JJC and the Joliet community. to work all afternoon to get the bell to walls behind it tinted from the welding shine,” Crompton, who was in her early As the story goes, Glasscock ’37 saved smoke of previous ventures. Floor-to-ceil- 20s at the time, said. “First they used the bell from destruction when he learned ing cubbyholes filled with arbitrary nails soap and water, dish soap and water, the former Will County Courthouse, built and bolts lined the opposite wall, near a laundry soap and water, and a lot of in 1885, was set for demolition in 1969. tub filled with metal scraps and a elbow grease to remove the filth of many The bell, which had chimed on the hour lywheel perched on a log. years in the tower at the courthouse. from inside the courthouse clock tower Joined by six men, Glasscock deliberated for decades, held a certain nostalgia “They then started with the chemicals the best way to clean his latest, tarnished for Glasscock. To him, it represented a to brighten and shine the bell. It worked acquisition, his trademark red handker¬ significant piece of Joliet and Will County pretty well, and the bell began to shine. chief a visible bulge in his back pocket. history that needed to be salvaged. And Finally, they were satisfied that they there was no better place to preserve the had done all they could to improve the On this particular spring day, the 52-year- old bell, Glasscock thought, than on JJC’s bell enough to have a place of honor on old Joliet farmer and first president of newly built campus on Floubolt Road. the campus. They all stood around in the Joliet Junior College Board of Trustees awe with smiles on their faces. ‘Well, was about to undertake a project unlike After negotiations with the company I guess that is that. We can rinse it off any other. responsible for the demolition, he now,’ someone said. There was a pail purchased the bell for $1,500 (his Forty years later, that bell stands— of water filled and splashed over the own money) from the company and perhaps inconspicuously—on a simple, bell. It immediately turned back to the tucked it safely away in the garage of austere steel frame in a quiet, wooded original dark color!” his farmhouse. nook of the JJC Main Campus between Ron Whitaker, who was elected with the lake and the E-Building, easily passed Glasscock’s daughter, Gayle Crompton Glasscock to the college’s first board by as students, staff and faculty hurry to ’64, recalled the mix of humor and in 1967, was also there that day. and from their destinations around cam¬ aggravation that marked that day for pus. But behind this unassuming college the men gathered in the Glasscock “We were all so enthused about it,” landmark is an inspiring story waiting family garage. Whitaker said. “I can remember looking to be told: a story of one man’s commit¬ closely at it, reading the inscription... I JJC CONNECTIONS | FALL 2009 7 just thought it was so neat to get it “It’s significant that they chose him to for the new college.” do that job,” Pillard said. “That says a lot about what they thought of him." The inscription, which simply reads “Founders Meneely Kimberly, Troy, New He later returned to Joliet to run the York, 1872” hasn’t shed much light on family farm and raise three children with the bell’s past, other than the year and his wife, Elasteen. Throughout the years, place where it was forged. Glasscock's loyalty to JJC and the Joliet community remained a constant; when For those close to Glasscock, his resolve District 525 was first formed in 1967, to save the bell wasn’t surprising. he was there to serve in a leadership “Bill was quite a guy,” Dr. Cecil Ingmire, role. He was elected to the first Board a former college trustee and friend of of Trustees in April of the same year, Glasscock’s said. “Fie would get some¬ and was later named the first president thing started and see it through. Fie was of the board. very determined In everything he did.” “Bill’s personality was that of a Glasscock, who passed away in 1999 typical farmer - honest, very friendly at the age of 82, also left an indelible to everyone and straightforward,” said impression on Flenry Pillard, his Jay Bergman, former director of the colleague and college administrator JJC Alumni Association and current from 1965 to 1988. member of the Illinois Board of Higher Education. “I have found very few people “Fie walked into a room and you noticed with the passion for their respective him. Fie was regal,” Pillard said. “Fie institutions that Bill Glasscock had for would have been a leader in whatever he Joliet Junior College.” chose to do. That was Bill... A natural- born and respected leader.” During the late ‘60s, formative years for the college, Glasscock stood out as a Pillard pointed to Glasscock’s service in strong and committed leader. The transi¬ the Army Air Corps during World War II, tion from the high school to the new adding that it revealed a lot about his campus on Houbolt Road was a difficult character. After Glasscock graduated one at times, and while Glasscock from JJC in 1937, he spent several wanted to ensure that traditions were years working as a flight instructor out preserved, he also wanted the new of Roscoe Turner Airfield in Indianapolis. college to establish its own identity. His primary duty, though, was to lead This, in part, is what compelled him squadrons of airplanes—many times to acquire the bell. through inclement weather and rough terrain—to Alaska for ultimate transport “At Joliet Township High School where to Russia. JJC was first located, there was always a bell to signal the changing of classes,” mmsmm Alumni Bell Timeline ggg|$|Pg .. ' ■ • ■ • 1969: Bill Glasscock acquires the bell from Foschi Brothers, • 1970s: The Alumni Association launched a campaign to the company that demolished the Will County Courthouse. raise funds for building a permanent bell tower. April 1969: The bell was used in the A.R. McAllister Band’s • August 1979: The bell tower is assembled and painted. performance of the 1812 Overture at the Rialto Theatre. • October 10,1979: An official dedication ceremony for the August 1969: Verdin Company picks up the bell in Joliet, new tower was held. takes it to Cincinnati for cleaning, new hardware and • June 2009: The bell is incorporated into the college's apparatus for mounting. new logo. December 1969: Bell was returned to the Glasscock home, then brought to the JJC Main Campus and mounted on the temporary tower. All photos courtesy of the JJC archives. Is- 8 JJC CONNECTIONS I FALL 2009 Crompton said. “So, there simply needed tion of the bell, members of the Joliet It took a few years to raise sufficient to be a bell at the new campus. But not community were also behind his efforts funds to build the new tower, while just any bell-my father wanted a big bell to salvage the courthouse icon. construction was slowed by a campus¬ with character.” wide debate over the structural integrity "There was a lot of local support and safety of the tower. Once a satisfac¬ Besides Glasscock and the other college for bringing the bell to JJC,” said Tom tory design was created and approved administrators who supported his acquisi¬ Mahalik ’69, a student at the time by the Board of Trustees, the tower was the bell was brought to JJC. “It was assembled and officially dedicated on an emotional time for the community October 10, 1979. because the Will County Courthouse was a cherished historical piece It was a time of celebration, not only of Joliet that was lost when it was to commemorate the end of a years- demolished, and bringing the court¬ long process, but also to acknowledge house’s bell to JJC was a way of the fact that the bell finally had a preserving a piece of that history.” permanent home. “There simply needed to be a bell at the new campus. But not just any bell-my father wanted a big bell with Ch a raCter.” Gayle Crompton, ‘64 - In December of 1969, the bell was Today, the bell’s relevance at JJC is no mounted on top of a temporary tower less significant. In 2009, the college made of telephone poles, and rang every established its first logo, in which the 10 minutes to the hour and on the hour. bell is featured prominently. It stood in the quad of the interim cam¬ “The discovery of the history of the pus—a central location for students to college’s bell has been a pleasant gather between classes, hold pep rallies awakening to the depth of richness and even stage anti-war demonstrations. that exists on the Main Campus,” said One October 1970 edition of the student- Dr. Gena Proulx, JJC president. “Few run newspaper, The Blazer, referenced community colleges can tie their roots to the bell as a “bulwark of tradition.” something of this degree of significance Chris Dragatsis ’50, met Glasscock to both alumni and the community. We when he joined the JJC Alumni Associa¬ have something that our employees, tion Board, and later succeeded him students and alumni can embrace. Now, as president of the Alumni Association the bell and its use in the new college Board in 1978. Dragatsis took part in logo pave the way for us to tie tradition the efforts to create a permanent home to the future. What a wonderful thing for the bell, and even personally paid the to celebrate!” architecture firm that designed the new 'structure to house it. JJC CONNECTIONS I FALL 2009 9