Sidney E. Glenn Papers, 1903-1967 | University of Illinois Archives

Dr. Sidney E. Glenn (b.1891, d.1952) was an associate professor of English at the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana from 1931-1952.

Dr. Glenn was born in Chicago to Archibald Glenn and Margaret Connellia on November 29, 1891. After graduating from St. Ignatius College in Chicago in 1909, he worked for seven years as a clerk at the Illinois Central Railroad in Chicago and the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway before becoming a student at the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana in 1916. In 1917 Glenn enlisted in the army and served in the Army of Occupation during the winter of 1918-1919. He was honorably discharged in March of 1919 and returned to UIUC in Fall 1919. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in English in 1922, and his MA in English in 1923. In 1924 he began working as an English professor at the College of St. Teresa in Minnesota for two years. In 1926 he returned to Chicago and passed the Chicago public schools teachers certification. He returned to UIUC later that year to pursue a PhD in English (minors in French and English philology) which he received in 1931. Glenn then worked as associate professor in English at the U of I from 1931-1952, only leaving the university for two brief instances of disability leave. During his time at UIUC, Glenn published 10 articles and wrote entries for Collier’s encyclopedia. As a veteran of World War I and as a member of the Reserve Militia during World War II, Glenn spent much of his time and effort working to make higher education more accessible to other veterans. In 1936 he was inducted into the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society, and in 1947 he received a Citation for Meritorious Service for his service with Company C of the Fifth Infantry in the Reserve Militia during World War II. Glenn and Margery Westerman married in 1924 and had three children. Dr. Sidney E. Glenn passed in 1952.

Glenn’s papers contain personal and professional correspondence and a detailed record of the positions he held at the University of Illinois, including a run of appointment letters listing salaries at U of I (1923-1950). Materials also document his grades and achievements at St. Ignatius College in Chicago and UIUC, including certificates for good behavior, honor society pamphlets, letters from the Dean of Men, report cards, and his 1931 thesis abstract titled “Some French Influences on Henry Fielding”. Also included is a copy of the Centennial edition of the Champaign-Urbana Courier (1967), and a clipped newspaper photograph of Glenn helping a World War II veteran enroll in college (c.1947).