When I was a child growing up in the 1980s, my dad was something of an anomaly. He took me to doctors’ appointments and sports practices; he chaperoned school field trips; he played board games with me and read books to me on lazy summer days. He wasn’t technically a stay-at-home dad, but as an […]
Erika Holst
Posted inArts & Culture
The angel of death
Mary Welles lost three children and a nephew to scarlet fever in January of 1857. The citizens of 19th century Springfield may not have faced the threat of ebola or known what an enterovirus is, but they were no strangers to deadly outbreaks of infectious diseases. In a populous area with poor sanitation, like Springfield […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Restoration begins on historic Taylor House
The Taylor House will serve as a jumping-off point for The Springfield Project/Neighborhood of Hope’s green spaces initiative. SKETCH BY MASSIE, MASSIE & ASSOCIATES It’s been a private residence, a home for fallen women and a technical school for African-American students. As recently as a few months ago, it was slated to become an empty […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Virginia works to save its endangered landmark
Virginia Square One is raising funds to save the c. 1897 Robertson Building and rehabilitate it into a new community center. The heart of Virginia, Illinois, about 30 miles northwest of Springfield on Rt. 125, is its town square. The anchor of the square’s southwest corner is the Robertson Building, built in 1897. Once a […]
Posted inSpecial Issues
Get your kids their shots
It’s back-to-school time, and that means, in addition to buying new shoes and school supplies, families are making appointments with their doctors for kids’ physicals and immunizations. Yet a growing number of people are growing wary of vaccinations, and some are refusing to have their children vaccinated altogether. Mistrust of vaccinations exploded in 1998 when […]
Posted inArts & Culture
When Lindbergh delivered airmail to Springfield
One of the 29,000 souvenir envelopes printed up for the inauguration of Springfield’s air mail service in 1926. This envelope was flown on the test trip on April 10 and bears the signatures of William H. Conkling, postmaster, and Charles Lindbergh, pilot.. Before he was Lucky Lindy, America’s aviation hero, Springfield knew Charles Lindbergh as […]
Posted inArts & Culture
About history, so what?
Erika Holst, Springfield historian and curator of collections at the Springfield Art Association, is guest columnist this week while Jim Krohe takes a week off. Your favorite dyspeptic is away this week, so instead of your regularly scheduled dose of Dyspepsiana you have me, leaving the comfort of my niche as an occasional writer of […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Lincoln’s extended family
Charles and Julia Edwards, two of Abraham Lincoln’s Springfield nieces and nephews now all but forgotten to history. Ask someone how many children Abraham Lincoln had and they are likely to answer correctly (four) and will probably be able to name some if not all of them: Robert (born 1843, the only one to survive […]
Posted inSpecial Issues
A doula can help give you the birth you want
When she became pregnant, Rachel Rambach knew she wanted a doula [DUE-luh] by her side during delivery. As a first-time mother, she was daunted by the process of labor, yet determined to have an epidural-free birth. She turned to Janet Tolley of Gentle Touch Doulas in Springfield. “Janet was a calming force from the […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Lincoln museum is a showstopper
The Lincoln Heritage Museum offers visitors a state-of-the-art, immersive experience of Lincoln’s life. I worked part-time at the Lincoln Heritage Museum in Lincoln 10 years ago, back when it was called the Lincoln College Museum. In those days, the museum was quaint, almost anachronistic. Tucked away in a small room outside the college library, old-fashioned […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Crossing boundaries
“Woman with a Monkey” was featured in the April 1909 issue of Harper’s Weekly. This painting, possibly a self-portrait of Mars, now hangs at the Springfield Art Association. Vachel Lindsay undoubtedly wins the distinction of Springfield’s Most Famous Resident, Arts and Letters Category, but he wasn’t the only Springfield native to make it big on […]
Posted inSpecial Issues
Circumcise? Or leave him intact?
The United States is the only country in the world that performs routine circumcision on its infants. In a state like Illinois, where nearly three-quarters of infants are circumcised, it may come as a surprise to learn that, globally, only approximately 30 percent of men are. In the United States circumcisions have become culturally […]
