Cyrus the Great of Persia was a king who lived in the fifth century before Christ. An able general, Cyrus used both force and diplomacy to bring under his sway now-forgotten kingdoms such as the Median Empire, Lydia, even, eventually Babylonia. The territory of southwest Sangamon County is seldom compared to ancient Babylonia, except maybe by […]
James Krohe Jr
Posted inOpinion
Illinois’ George Washington
Every December, Illinoisans celebrate the commonwealth’s admission to the Union as the 21st state in 1818. Well, some do. Actually, hardly any do. Most Illinoisans seem reconciled to their membership in the commonwealth but seldom proud of it; a not insignificant number of downstaters hereabouts daydream about secession that might free them of that yoke […]
Posted inOpinion
Scarecrows in the cornfields
Often, when driving on I-55 to and from Chicago, I while away the hours with word games. (How many words mean “dull”?) Until I reach McLean County, that is, when the towers of the Twin Groves Wind Farm come into view. Even though they’ve stood there for years – the farm was built way back […]
Posted inOpinion
Springfield’s city plan at 100
Rampant and haphazard growth after the Civil War left Springfield dirty, dangerous, unhealthful and inconvenient. The race riots in 1908 left the city’s worthy citizens with what we might call a reputational problem, so progressive-minded locals undertook a municipal housecleaning. The 1911 commission reform promised to fix politics. The election that same year of Willis […]
Posted inUncategorized
Fuddy-duddies
It was no internet in terms of its impact on communications but in the 1960s and ’70s cheap web offset printing allowed anyone who had a gripe, a dream or even just an itch they needed to scratch to “put out a paper.” All you needed was some rubber cement and a typewriter and an […]
Posted inSpecial Issues
Soccer missionaries
In the 1960s, missionaries from such foreign places as Greece and England and South America and New York City landed on Springfield’s barbarian shore. They introduced to the natives a new gospel that had conquered the rest of the world – soccer. Some had been players at home, others just fans, but all loved the […]
Posted inArts & Culture
House divided
Hear the name “Lincoln” and you see the man splitting rails, say, or on a debate platform towering over Stephen A. Douglas. Few recall the soon-to-be president being shooed out the front door of his house in a hail of potatoes. But that image of Lincoln was as valid as the others, as we learn […]
Posted inOpinion
The famous architect’s Springfield project
If you had asked cosmopolitan Springfieldians in 1990 or so to name the Springfield parking ramp designed by flamboyant German American architect Helmut Jahn, most would have pointed to the municipal ramp at Seventh and Monroe. As built in 1967, its louvered façade of precast concrete slats made it one of the handsomest structures of any […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Springfield’s back yard
Is there any other place that figures so centrally in the social, recreational and erotic life of so many Springfieldians from so many backgrounds? A summer evening with a fishing line in the water, listening to the waves lapping on the old dam steps. Watching the moon rise over the water with a lover. Paddling […]
Posted inSpecial Issues
A drummer who never missed a beat
My father liked to tell this story. He was a professional musician, and a country band out of Ashland had hired him to play at that year’s Chandlerville Burgoo. “Just go down 78 to the end,” the leader told him. “You can’t miss it. If you do, you’re in the river.” When he met his […]
Posted inArts & Culture
The rise and fall of the Mormons’ new Zion
Prophets who offer a path to peace in this world and redemption in the next have never been rare in the U.S. They were never less rare than in the 1830s and 40s. The direction and pace of social change left many people uneasy in this world and yearning to find a better one with […]
Posted inOpinion
Big guy, big personality, big flaws
James R. Thompson, the biggest (six feet six) and longest (14 years in office) governor Illinois ever had, died on Aug. 14, 2020, in Chicago at 84. His rise as a politician coincided with that of this newspaper, and to those of us working at Illinois Times in those days he was a familiar, if […]
