Clabaugh, Charles Wesley | Illinois History and Lincoln Collections

Name: Clabaugh, Charles Wesley

Historical Note: Charles W. Clabaugh was born in Coles County, Ill., in 1900. He graduated from Lerna High School in 1919, and from Eastern Illinois State Teachers College in 1923 with a degree in Education. He remained in Coles County where he taught school and joined a business firm. In 1926, he moved to Champaign where he continued in business, establishing his own firm, the Champaign Weather Strip Company, in 1934. Clabaugh was elected to the Illinois House of Representatives in 1938, and was re-elected for a total of 18 consecutive terms. He declined to run for re-election in 1974. During his legislative career Clabaugh devoted much attention to education, both elementary and secondary, as well as to the University of Illinois. He served on, or chaired, the Education Committee, the School Problems Commission, the House Financing of Education Study Committee, the Elementary and Secondary Education Committee, and the Steering Committee of the Education Commission of the States. In addition, Clabaugh was instrumental in establishing the General Assembly's scholarship program in 1957.

Records or Manuscript Collections created by Clabaugh, Charles Wesley