NileHiLite Collection

The first dedicated public high school building in Skokie was opened in 1939. What was then known as Niles Township High School, or “NileHi”, was located at 7701 North Lincoln Avenue, where Oakton Community College now stands, and was built using WPA (Works Progress Administration) funds and labor. High school classes had been held in the Lincoln Elementary School beginning in 1931. Before then, most children in the area ended their schooling in the elementary grades.

Following the population boom of the 1950s and 1960s, two new public high schools, Niles Township West (1958) and Niles Township North (1964), were opened, in addition to several new elementary schools. A change in housing stock and demographics in the 1970s resulted in the closing of Niles Township East, also known as Niles East, in 1980, though the other two high schools remain open to this day.

November 1939 saw the beginning of the publication of the NileHiLite, a school newspaper written, edited, and published by the students in the school’s journalism class. Over the years, newspaper varied in length, from 2 to 18 pages, and frequency, from 13 to 17 times per school year, documenting  school life of Skokie teenagers for four decades.

The Skokie Public Library has digitized over 400 issues of the NileHiLite from our own collection and from the Skokie Historical Society, but our collection is not complete.

Use the links below or to the left to browse the PDFs in our digital collection.


1940s
1939-1940 School Year 1940-1941 School Year 1941-1942 School Year 1942-1943 School Year 1943-1944 School Year
1944-1945 School Year 1945-1946 School Year 1946-1947 School Year 1947-1948 School Year 1948-1949 School Year
1950s
1949-1950 School Year 1950-1951 School Year (no issues available) 1951-1952 School Year (incomplete) 1952-1953 School Year  1953-1954 School Year (no issues available)
1954-1955 School Year  1955-1956 School Year  1956-1957 School Year (no issues available) 1957-1958 School Year  1958-1959 School Year 
1960s
1959-1960 School Year  1960-1961 School Year  1961-1962 School Year  1962-1963 School Year  1963-1964 School Year 
1964-1965 School Year  1965-1966 School Year  1966-1967 School Year  1967-1968 School Year  1968-1969 School Year 
1970s
1969-1970 School Year  1970-1971 School Year  1971-1972 School Year  1972-1973 School Year  1973-1974 School Year 
1974-1975 School Year  1975-1976 School Year  1976-1977 School Year  1977-1978 School Year 1978-1979 School Year
1979-1980 School Year