“Eye-opening.” That’s how Zach Adams describes the year 2020. Within five months, Adams went from working full time and doing a bit of photography on the side, to being laid off during quarantine and becoming a stay-at-home parent, to watching his photography business take off as he was able to take more pictures, to dealing […]
Erika Holst
Posted inNews
World War II comes to life at the ALPLM
The doors of the landing craft open, and the beach of Normandy looms ahead. Shells explode in the water and as the sound of machine gun fire beats a merciless tattoo through the hazy air. You round the corner, and suddenly World War II comes to life before your eyes through the words and objects […]
Posted inNews
Kenny’s Bonnie
I found Kenny’s Bonnie living in an assisted living facility. It has been more than 70 years since she sat on the beach in Florida in her sunglasses and white shirt, Kenny’s hands on her shoulders behind her. She is 93 years old now; her dark curly hair has turned white; her eyesight is failing. […]
Posted inNews
Behind enemy lines
His picture is in a case along the back wall in the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum’s new exhibition on World War II. He is handsome in his pilot’s helmet and cheerful, confident smile, and so very, very young – only 21 when the photo was taken. A picture of his P-51 Mustang fighter plane is […]
Posted inNews
Discovering the east side
A. Morris Williams came to Springfield as a 23-year-old cobbler in 1902. Within five years he had obtained a law degree, which he put to use helping fellow African-Americans file retribution claims against the City of Springfield after the 1908 Race Riots. A pioneer in the black real estate business, he was responsible for the […]
Posted inSpecial Issues
Taking your baby to work
When Molly Lamb returned to her job as deputy director of the Office of Health Protection at the Illinois Department of Health after maternity leave last May, her five-month-old son Jhett was with her. Molly and Jhett were the first participants in IDPH’s pilot “Infant at Work” program, which allows eligible mothers, fathers and legal […]
Posted inNews
The road to Prohibition 100 years ago
On Jan. 16, 1919, the United States had ratified the 18th Amendment to the Constitution, making it illegal to make, transport or sell alcoholic beverages in America as of 1920. The following Sunday, celebrations were held in churches throughout Springfield. Reverend E. F. Collier spoke in support of the Anti-Saloon League at the First United […]
Posted inArts & Culture
THOMAS EARL BRINKER
THOMAS EARL BRINKER July 18, 1962 – July 20, 2018The gold standard dad Thomas Earl Brinker was a fundamentally happy guy who saw the best in everyone around him. He had the kind of magnetism that immediately put people at ease and lifted everybody’s spirits when he walked into a room. Thomas was born in […]
Posted inNews
Edwards family’s trash becomes treasure
If the backhoe had dug just one foot to the east, it might have missed the feature altogether. As it was, archaeologist Floyd Mansberger and the crew of Fever River Research got lucky the day they put an exploratory trench into the yard behind historic Edwards Place: they caught the edge of an 1850s, brick-lined […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Springfield’s World War I hero, Otis B. Duncan
One hundred years ago, after four long and brutal years, the end of the Great War was finally in sight. By late summer of 1918, Allies had pushed the German forces into retreat. Among the American forces in pursuit of the fleeing German army was the Third Battalion of the 370th Infantry Regiment. Its commander, […]
Posted inOpinion
It’s time to opt in
Two very nice union representatives knocked on my door last week. Anticipating an unfavorable ruling in Janus v. AFSCME, they asked me, a “fair share” state employee, to join the union. I didn’t have to think twice. Sign me up, I told them. I’m with you. Although I don’t believe, as Mr. Janus does, that […]
Posted inSpecial Issues
Visiting an art museum with kids
Whenever we take a family outing to St. Louis, I always yearn to visit the St. Louis Art Museum, but it never ends up happening. The reason? Precisely because it’s a family outing. I’m afraid that looking at art will make the kids bored and whiny, and nothing torpedoes a family outing like bored and […]
