Jacksonville – Dr. Patricia Burnette ‘58 will give a lecture on the life of former James Frazier Jaquess, president of the Illinois Conference Female Academy, now known as MacMurray College. She will present her topic at 7:00 p.m. in Thoresen Recital Hall on Thursday, November 17.

     Her program, “James F. Jaquess and Higher Education,” will cover his life up to the Civil War era and is sponsored by the Morgan County Historical Society. The public is welcome to attend.

     Dr. Burnette has been collecting information about Pres. Jaquess in preparation for an upcoming book on the subject which she hopes to have published within the next couple of years. Jaquess was president of the Academy from 1849 – 1855.

     Dr. Pat Burnette, a 1958 graduate of MacMurray College, earned her B.A. in English. She later received both her master’s degree and Ph.D. in English from Indiana University. She taught at Carthage College in Illinois before a brief time of teaching at MacMurray. Dr. Burnette was head of the Prairie Council on Aging for 25 years.

     Dr. Burnette is completing a paper on Pres. Jaquess for an Illinois State Historical Society Symposium on December 1. It will be held at 9:00 a.m. at Grace Lutheran Church. She is now retired and lives in Jacksonville with her husband, Dr. Rand Burnette, professor emeritus of history at MacMurray College.

     Located in Jacksonville, Ill., MacMurray College is a private, four-year, liberal arts, coeducational college, founded in 1846, and affiliated with the United Methodist Church. Its friendly, informal environment stresses academic excellence, personal attention, career experience, and well-rounded development of each individual.