Phil Bradley

The planned re-creation of the Lincoln funeral train and reenacting of the funeral ceremonies in Springfield scheduled for May mark a remembrance of a great president and an inspirational world figure. That is how he is widely regarded today. But it wasn’t always so. During his presidency Lincoln elicited negative reactions from many Americans. Residents […]

“Gimme your mop. You’re through.” I was standing in a hall in the Stratton building about 9:30 on a weeknight. The shift was ending and I had been stopped by the new boss. He hit me with that message, took my mop and turned back to his office. After four years, my job as night […]

 I remember seeing Gov. Adlai Stevenson when I was a kid. I was in a car that passed his on the way up to New Salem to see the play Forever This Land. He looked out the window and waved to me. Actually seeing him around town was not an unusual experience. Some evenings he […]

In the forties and fifties, driving into Greenview on my way to visit my grandparents at their farm on Salt Creek meant passing a sadly decaying remnant of the town’s better days. Just south of town was a unique farmstead, with a large collection of wooden barns and assorted outbuildings such as granaries, a wash […]

When my Grandmother Platt put on her white linen dress and the hat that made her look like a duchess and announced that we were going shopping, it only meant one thing – a day of adventure “downtown.” As we were getting ready, we could hear occasional whistles blowing in the distance, steam whistles announcing […]

 I have met Barack Obama twice. And I must say, I expected greater things. I have shaken hands with every president from Harry Truman to Obama. Some were memorable, some inspiring, some just guys hustling for votes. And I met them at different stages in their lives. Truman was a feisty old man, here to […]

 We were young. We were innocent. We were naive. And from that afternoon on, nothing was the same. I had just finished lunch in the Gizmo at Knox College. As I walked down the long sunlit gallery to the Seymour Lounge a suitemate came toward me. “The president has been shot,” he said. “No, you’re […]

The coming of Hy-Vee and the happy prospect of MacArthur Boulevard being revitalized have triggered many pleasant memories of the old days on the street. Before the interstate, U.S.36, a major east-west highway, ran right through town. It turned north at “the curve” by Cherry Grove from Wabash Avenue and traveled up MacArthur till it […]