Illinois Heritage, January–February 2022

Volume 25, Number 1

To our readers

Years from now when students are researching the Omicron winter of 2022, they’ll perhaps wonder what we muddling mortals did to keep the virus at bay, besides getting vaccinated every six months. They’ll wonder, “perhaps,” because there’s an odd chance the variant we currently are combating will mutate and render all history—except Illinois history—moot. The eschatologists are already pondering this, and we’ll let them, because we have the January–February issue of Illinois Heritage to nourish and protect us until the next injection.

In this issue of Illinois Heritage, our contributors—Kristan McKinsey, John Hallwas, Beth Young, Martin Joyce, Greg Koos, James Cornelius, Cindy Reinhardt, Mark Sorensen, and others—offer a banquet of delights across the Prairie State, a sampling of art and literature, travel and letters, and history in the making, just enough to sustain and inspire us until the next issue.

Meanwhile, here at the ISHS office in Springfield, we’re gearing up for the 2022 “Best of Illinois History” awards, which will take place (in person, we hope) on Saturday, April 9 at the Hoogland Center for the Arts here in the capital city. This event promises to be a celebration of the first order, with more than 35 award  presentations to the best Illinois history writers, exhibitors, website developers, film producers, preservations, and educators we could find. Mark your calendars, get your boosters, and buy yourself a fancy face-mask—we plan to party likes it’s 2022. And if we have to Zoom it all again, it will be awesome to see you and celebrate with you the “Best of Illinois History.”

William Furry
Executive Director