Untitled Document The late 1960s and early ’70s were a time of significant change for Springfield, as its institutions of higher education — Sangamon State University]]> I recently learned a new reason why I’m glad I didn’t live in the 1800s — 19th century cosmetics.I became enlightened about this topic after attending an interesting 3½-hour seminar ]]> It’s like a long forgotten, 80-year-old scrapbook of our city. It shows a bustling downtown crowded with men wearing fedoras and women in fur coats, a family brewery preparing for the onslaught ]]> “Too late now,” said Henry Darger, an 80-something retired janitor and former central Illinois resident, as he waited for death at a Chicago charitable institution i]]> To celebrate its 50th anniversary, the Sangamon County Historical Society is having an author of books about early American history, including one about our area, come to Springfield and speak on Apri]]> Since this year marks the sesquicentennial of the Civil War’s beginning, it seems appropriate to look back at how some of those soldiers spent their holidays. We begin with the accounts of two m]]> Among the many collections that make up the Audio-Visual Department of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library, the Guy Mathis photographic collection stands out for its ]]> At the corner of 12th and Reynolds, hard by what was once the site of the John Hay Homes, stands the former residence and business of August Rechner Sr., a native of Baden, Germany, who emigrated fro]]> Untitled Document “Eleven run away slaves, belonging to citizens of St. Louis, and for which a reward of $300 each, was offered, were captured in this county ye]]> In the summer of 1942, the District Convention of the Order of AHEPA (the American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association) was held for three days at the Abraham ]]> On June 18, 1945, Dick Schofield, a ten-year-old fourth grader from Harvard Park School, had the opportunity to meet the state's top elected official, Gov. Dwight Green. Schofield, a representa]]> Last week marked the 100th anniversary of Springfield's race riots. They left our city with a legacy we will never outlive and perhaps never overcome. As Springfieldians strug]]> When Abraham Lincoln, his father, stepmother, and step-brother first came to Illinois from Indiana, they settled in a log cabin about three miles west of Decatur on the Sangamon River. Th]]> The Lincoln-Herndon law offices must have been like the “fun cabin” at summer camp: always messy, rarely dull and the best place to hear something interesting. William Hernd]]> A few weeks ago, as I nursed my son through swine flu, I frequently thought about my great-grandmother. She had lived in Athens, northwest of Springfield, and nursed her son during another flu pandemi]]> It is, at first, a vexing and somewhat daunting undertaking to write about a nearly 100-year-old high-school athletic-team yearbook picture, especially when it requires more than a little sleut]]> Untitled Document The Bush side of the presidents’ family receives nearly all of the attention from historians; the Walker side, by comparison, is almost anonymous to histo]]> The Boeing B-17 was the world’s first long-range, strategic heavy bomber, deployed to England in 1942 to help retake western Europe from the German war machine that had invaded in 1940. Before t]]> ‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the houseNot a creature was stirring, not even a mouse…The children were nestled, all snug in their bedsWhile visions of cockroaches dan]]> If we could go back 100 years to Thanksgiving in 1910, we might be surprised at the similarities and differences. As usual, the president gave a Thanksgiving proclamation. President William H. Taft ex]]>