Illinois Heritage

Southern Illinois is the place to be this August as we anticipate a total solar eclipse, with center stage located over the state's first capital, Kaskaskia. Will two minutes and forty seconds of darkened skies start crickets chirping and bring out the fireflies? We'll just have to wait and see and hope for a cloudless day for the people planning to check out the path of totality. And we'll also have to wait and see whether our great state can come to terms with its budgetary woes and see brighter days ahead.

Welcome to Kristan McKinsey, Director of the Illinois Women Artists Project, as she picks up the excellent editorial work of the late Channy Lyons. Our friends at Illinois Humanities are forging ahead with plans for the upcoming state bicentennial and we can travel with Stephen Leonard and Keith Sculle on their road trip of discovery along the east-west Route 36 across Illinois.

Despite the quagmires of government, the quicksand of politics, and the mosquitoes of summer, Illinois is a glorious place to call home.

With this issue of the Heritage, we welcome our new President Leah Axelrod to the helm.  Leah has been a member for 20+ years and she is the fifth woman to serve as ISHS President since 1899.  Thanks are due to Randall Saxon as he steps down to take life a little easier, if that is possible for a gardener.  

Readers of this issue will enjoy a little bit of everything, from John Hallwas's look at the life of naturalist Donald Culross Peattie to Michael Sublett's look at a proposed 103rd Illinois county, named for wildlife painter John James Audubon.  We are also pleased to share Verna Ross Orndorff scholarship winner Anna Sielaff's essay on Lincoln's Gettysburg Address.   

Thanks to our Society members for keeping the lantern burning and the rivers gently flowing!  Share your Heritage!

This issue of the magazine highlights two themes:

1. Sesquicentennial houses of worship around the state.
2. Agriculture and related topics throughout the state.

Sesquicentennial Churches are chosen from across Illinois based on the following criteria: Minutes of early church board meetings, marriage or baptismal records, grant of official charter, contemporary newspaper advertisements or articles, old city directories. ISHS looks forward to honoring more than 33 Sesquicentennial Churches for the fidelity and witness to others over 150 years of faithfulness to their calling.

Agriculture in Illinois has a long and quite amazing history as one follows the movement and settlements which sprung up in, during and long after pioneer period. Karl Bodmer, a Swiss artist (circa 1832) painted a scenic view of a farm on the southern prairie. It is a good study of the French style of an American Bottom settlement.

In this issue, we celebrate the election of Kathryn Harris as the first female and first African American president of the Abraham Lincoln Association. Next we share with you our nominations for the ISHS officers, directors, and advisors, who will help take us into the state’s 200th anniversary.

This issue also includes Gina Wysocki’s history of the Will County Poor Farm, reprinted with permission of the author and the Will County Historical Society, which published the piece nearly a decade ago. Many counties had their own facilities for indigent populations in the late 19th and early 20th centuries; none was especially memorable as a comfortable haven for the poor. 

Finally, we include two new features in this issue: An Illinois Crossword puzzle, courtesy of Blue River Press; and a canvas of Illinois “heroes” submitted by several of our 2,700 Facebook friends. Not a Facebook friend of the ISHS? Join the discussion and share your Illinois Heritage! Happy, happy Spring!

This issue of Illinois Heritage has much to offer our loyal readers: A profile of John Wood, Illinois' 12th governor and the founder of Quincy; a history of the Mormon Template in Nauvoo and what archaeologists have recently discovered on the site; a Collinsville landmark that roadside travelers relish; and the story of the Fansteel sit-down strike and how it changed labor relations in the nation. Thanks to our several contributors for making this issue possible. Of course we have included the latest Society news, announcements, programs, tours, and historical marker dedications around the state.

It's all good reading in Illinois Heritage. I suggest a warm cup of cider, a mug of hot chocolate, or your favorite winter beverage to begin your adventure in Illinois history.