THE FOLLOWING IS A DANVILLE AREA COMMUNITY COLLEGE RELEASE
DANVILLE – Post secondary education first became available in Vermilion County on September 16, 1946. That was opening day for the University of Illinois extension site at Danville High School that eventually became Danville Area Community College. DACC will celebrate the day – and the woman who made it possible – on Monday, September 16, 2024, with the premiere of a new documentary film about our first President, Miss Mary Lee Miller. The film will be shown in the Bremer Center Theater at 2:00PM. The showing is free and open to the public.
The DHS extension was one of 30 sites established across the State to handle the overwhelming influx of WWII veterans with GI Bill benefits and a desire for a college degree. One of the DHS faculty members asked to teach the new college students that day was Miss Mary Miller. Born in 1900, she held Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the University of Illinois at a time when many women stopped out before high school. Already a 20-year veteran of teaching, Miss Miller was chair of the English Department, advisor of the Drama Club, and a favorite of graduates like Dick Van Dyke and Bobby Short.
Two years later, when the U of I determined that the deluge of veterans had lessened enough to be served by the main campus, Miss Miller fought tooth and nail to preserve higher education accessibility in the community. She convinced the Danville School Board to assume oversight of a new community college and was named Assistant Director of Danville Junior College in 1948. In 1966, Miss Miller became the first woman in the State of Illinois to be named President of a junior college. She held that position until she retired in 1972, when she was given the honor of President Emerita.
Miss Miller was a stauch supporter of DACC, its students, and its mission until her death in 1986. Her funeral services were held in the gym that bears her name. It was the only space large enough to accommodate the crowd of mourners. Please join us as we celebrate the life and accomplishments of Miss Mary L. Miller, without whom Danville Area Community College would not exist.
