SIUE traces its ancestry to the establishment of the Rock Springs Seminary in 1827 by pioneer Baptist missionary John Mason Peck and to its descendant, Shurtleff College, in Alton, Illinois. SIUE began operation in July 1957 at the former campus of Shurtleff College. Many former Shurtleff students attended SIUE when that small school ceased operation. The Shurtleff Retrospect Yearbooks digital collection and the Shurtleff Pioneer Student Newspaper digital collection reflect student life at Shurtleff.