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This issue of Illinois Heritage is full of fascinating stories about Illinoisans who have made a difference in Illinois and Midwestern history, starting with Robert Preston Taylor, a lawyer and scientist who worked at the Illinois State Museum; William Edgar Brotherton, WWI aviator who flew with famed pilot Eddie Rickenbacker; and the unveiling of a new ISHS public history initiative, “The Land and the People Hold Memories,” an opportunity for post WWII citizens to write about their experiences between 1946-1975.

The Heritage is published six times per year and is available as a benefit of membership in the Illinois State Historical Society. Individual editions can also be purchased by contacting our office directly. Visit our Membership section for membership options and information.

Click on the “Read More” button to see this issue’s Editor's Comments, Table of Contents, and sample articles.

Happy New Year from the Illinois State Historical Society!

The January-February issue of Illinois Heritage—“The music issue”—ably assembled by ISHS director Bill Steinbacher-Kemp with the help of a sterling group of writers who know their Illinois music history, is a great start for the new year. Our “2020” vision for the ISHS is to make our programs and publications the best in the Midwest.

Thanks to all of you who have taken time to join or renew your 2020 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.” As you know, membership is the glue that holds the Illinois State Historical Society together. Your personal commitment to this organization makes all the difference in what we accomplish from year to year. Thank you for all you do to make Illinois history unforgettable. 

Share your Heritage.

Our Fall 2019 issue brings together culture and commerce, in three distinctive contexts. In “Florenz Ziegfield and the Creation of a Cosmopolitan Chicago,” Susan E. Hirsch explores the rise of high culture–classical music, opera, theater, the fine arts–and its corresponding ethic of cosmopolitanism through the work of the German immigrant, Florenz Ziegfield. The talented classical pianist was one of Chicago’s busiest cultural entrepreneurs during the Gilded Age. 

The commercial opportunities presented by the variety of forms of popular entertainment in Chicago attracted figures less noble than the Ziegfields. In “When Chicago Went to the Dogs: Al Capone and Greyhound Racing in the Windy City, 1927-1933,” Steven A. Riess traces the fascinating history of Chicagoland dog racing and its deep connections to the city’s crime syndicates. 

Our final article traces the trajectory of racial attitudes and policies in an affluent Chicago suburb. In “Race, Town, and Gown: A White Christian College and a White Suburb Address Race,” Brian J. Miller and David B. Malone summarize the evolution of Wheaton College and the larger community of Wheaton, Illinois on matters of race. Before the Civil War both college and town were well-known for abolitionism and relatively enlightened racial views.

The Chicago Alliance of Visual Artists (CAVA) and the North Shore Art League (NSAL) are excited to announce their second joint summer-themed show, Forgotten Illinois. We are seeking works of art--paintings, prints, photographs, drawings, fiber art, mixed media, sculpture and ceramics--that tell a story, interpret an event, or reveal new insights about Illinois history from a 21st century perspective.

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.