Illinois Heritage

This issue of Illinois Heritage will fill the hours with Prairie State wonders. New contributor Mark Pohlad, an architectural historian from DePaul University, shares his thoughts on the 100th anniversary of the conveyance of New Salem to the State of Illinois. Kristan McKinsey serves up another out-standing profile in our long-running series on Illinois Women Artists. And Mark Flotow and his camera capture the Lincoln Days festival and Civil War “battle” on Lake Pittsfield, which took place over Memorial Day weekend in Pike County. But that’s not all.

ISHS Director William Shannon IV takes us to East St. Louis to remember a civil rights struggle in 1963, where African-American protestors challenged the community to level the playing field for jobs and to create equitable opportunities previously denied them. Last but never least, John Hallwas presents another “Forgotten Voices from Illinois History,” this time on a little-known publishing house that turned heads around the world toward Prairie City, Illinois.

Thank you for reading Illinois Heritage. Your membership and gifts keep this organization vital and relevant. We cannot serve Illinois history without you. 

The Illinois State Historical Society celebrates its 120th birthday on May 19. The organization has seen a lot of history unfold in those years––two world wars, women’s suffrage, several pandemics, and more technological, social, and cultural changes than our fore-fathers and mothers could ever have imagined. 

In this issue of Illinois Heritage we look at several fascinating people, places, and events in our state’s past that will stir your imagination and, perhaps, inspire you to visit your local library. While you’re there, ask if your library is a member of the ISHS, or if it subscribes to our publications. If they do not subscribe, encourage them to call us at 217-525-2781. We would love to have them share the resources of the Society with their readers. 

Thanks for your support––all of you––for helping us do the work of recording and interpreting our Prairie State history.

Share your Heritage. Know your past.

This issue of Illinois Heritage is another gift from our sterling contributors. John Hallwas’s beautiful tribute to Virginia Eifert gave us an opportunity to put her portrait as a five-year-old writer on the cover. Mark Flotow revisits Illinois’ Civil War camps and shares how the soldiers who served there remembered their wartime experiences. Kathleen Spaltro takes us to Preston Sturges’ “City of My Dreams” in a fascinating profile of a renowned filmmaker’s coming of age in Chicago, and Mike Kienzler explores hidden art in plain sight in Menard County.

On April 26, the Illinois State Historical Society invites all friends of Prairie State history to join us in Petersburg for the ISHS’s 120th annual meeting, a celebration of the BEST OF ILLINOIS HISTORY and the 100th anniversary of the re-establishing of the village of New Salem and the creation of the state historic site. This event includes the Annual Awards Banquet, as well as a guided afternoon tour of the park. Look for details in this issue of Illinois Heritage and on our webpage, http://www.historyillinois.org.

The Illinois bicentennial commemoration wrapped up for the Illinois State Historical society with our 2018 History Symposium on December 3 at the University of Illinois Springfield. Many thanks to our excellent speakers––Michael Wiant, Bill Kemp, Devin Hunter, and Bob Sampson––for donating their time and  talents to the program. 

This year brings us another anniversay to celebrate: the 120th anniversary of the ISHS, which was organized on May 19, 1899. The Society continues to be the leading advocate for the promotion of historical research and understanding of our Prairie State history. With our dedicated Board of Directors, Advisors, and staff we seek to expand the reach of our organization into every home in the state of Illinois and beyond, but that kind of mission requires the participation of every member of the Society too. Please do your part by renewing your membership (if you have not already done so), and by sharing our publications and programs with Illinois history advocates in your community. Consider sponsoring a public library membership, nominating a community museum exhibit or local history author for an award, or sharing news of a historical event in your hometown. We all learn when we share our history. 
 

100 years ago the bells tolled across the nation announcing the end of World War I. But if history has told us anything, the wounds from that cataclysm persist to the present day and the reverberations echo on and on. It is fitting that we commemorate the anniversary of the end of “The War to End All Wars” by revisiting what Illinoisans who survived it remembered. Great appreciation is offered to guest editor Bill Kemp, who put the bones and flesh on this issue of Illinois Heritage, and to the guest authors who gave it life.

In this issue we also congratulate the 2018 Centennial Award recipients, businesses and not-for-profit organizations that have served Illinoisans for 100 or more years. At a time when we hear so much about companies leaving the state, it is a delight to recognize those corporations whose roots remain deep in the Prairie soil.

Thanks to all of you who have taken time to renew your 2019 membership in the Illinois State Historical Society. Our organization thrives because of your  commitment to our mission of “fostering awareness, understanding, research,  preservation, and recognition of history in Illinois.” 

Wishing you the very best of holiday seasons, and a happy and brilliant New Year.