After months of waiting for the state to take the lead, Lisa Higgs created an ad hoc bicentennial planning commission in Springfield. Higgs, president of the Vachel Lindsay Association, stands in front of the Abraham Lincoln statue by Andrew O’Connor, placed at the Illinois State Capitol during the state’s centennial celebration in 1918. PHOTO BY […]
Erika Holst
Posted inOpinion
An elegy to the Spirit of ’08
I stumbled across a documentary about Barack Obama’s ’08 presidential campaign the other night while browsing through Netflix. “Perfect,” I thought, and settled back in anticipation of a pleasant trip down memory lane. I was 28 years old when Obama won the Iowa primary. Like much of the country, and most of the people in […]
Posted inSpecial Issues
America’s dismal maternity leave policy
PHOTO metrocreativeconnection.com I had been dreading the question ever since my plane touched down in Oslo. I was eight months pregnant, visiting my family in Norway for Christmas for one last international adventure before the baby arrived. The question was finally raised by my cousins as we were sitting around and relaxing after Christmas dinner: […]
Posted inArts & Culture
The Lincoln funeral film
The recreation of the Lincoln funeral procession on May 2-3, 2015, a triumph of research, manpower, coordination and attention to detail, is thoughtfully documented in a newly released video produced by the City of Springfield in conjunction with the Cent PHOTO COURTESY STUDIO G PRODUCTIONS On Sunday, May 3, 2015 – a year ago – […]
Posted inSpecial Issues
Adjusting to retirement
After retiring, Phil Locascio decided to finally pursue his dream of painting. Now he’s an accomplished pastel artist who belongs to several artists’ groups and regularly sells his work. When facing retirement, most people rightly spend considerable time and energy on financial planning to adjust to life without a salary. Equally important, however, is the […]
Posted inSpecial Issues
Parents need wills
If you are a parent, you need a will. Even though you’re young and healthy, even though your mortality might be the farthest thing from your mind, even though right now you’d rather spend the money on something else. You need a will because at the end of the day, you’re mortal, and when you […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Equestrian
Charles Armstrong ‘Chick’ Chapin Charles Armstrong Chapin was many things: a World War II veteran, an accomplished attorney, a lover of classical music, an involved member of his community and a beloved husband and father. But above all else, Charles Chapin was a horseman. Charles (“Chick” to everyone who knew him) was born in Springfield […]
Posted inArts & Culture
The happy history of Santa Claus
The original St. Nicholas was a third-century bishop from a small town in modern-day Turkey. With children the annual return of that mysterious personage called “Santa Claus,” with his budget of gim cracks and appropriate presents, is full of excitement and is looked forward to with absorbing interest. Illinois State Journal, Dec. 25, 1856 In […]
Posted inArts & Culture
History of a holiday
Before the Civil War, days of Thanksgiving were declared by the governors of individual states. Many Southern governors declined to do so, believing Thanksgiving to be a “Yankee” holiday. DRAWING BY F. A. CHAPMAN, ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE DECEMBER 9, 1871, HARPER’S WEEKLY In the beginning there were Pilgrims and Indians, more or less like […]
Posted inSpecial Issues
A guide to secondhand shopping
You have to do some digging to find bargains at a thrift store like Goodwill. The inventory changes quickly, so go often. PHOTO BY JOSEPH COPLEY I wasn’t always a thrifter. As a status-conscious teenager growing up in suburban Chicago, I eschewed secondhand clothes in favor of the latest offerings from my favorite stores at […]
Posted inNews
Archaeology of a hate crime
The smoldering ruins at Tenth and Madison Streets in the aftermath of the 1908 race riot, very near where the modern-day archaeological investigations took place. When Floyd Mansberger and Christopher Stratton at Fever River Research began their archaeological investigation of 10th Street between Madison and Mason streets in Springfield, they knew the probability was high […]
Posted inArts & Culture
When Springfield took in Portuguese refugees
Exiled from their homeland, many Portuguese refugees made new lives for themselves in central Illinois between 1849 and 1852. “What are six hundred human beings worth? How much ought we expend to give so many wandering exiles a home and shelter from persecution?” The year was 1849, and the question was being asked in the […]
