Community & Lifestyle

Just a few years ago, when our kids were still quite little, our family was watching an old black-and-white television program when my daughter allowed that she wasn’t altogether enjoying the show. When we asked her why, she innocently asked whether the whole world was black and white “back then.” She was disturbed by the […]

Fans of such insipid pop-culture TV fare as Fear Factor, Survivor, American Idol and other staged, stultifying and overly orchestrated pabulum so mind-numbingly vacuous that you can actually feel your IQ score tumbling as you watch, know this: There was a time when they played for keeps. Remember the 1969 movie They Shoot Horses, Don’t […]

In the days before television talk shows, cooking shows and HGTV — indeed, in the days before television itself — the American woman, who was almost always a housewife, had a limited network of resources upon which to call when she sought information so vital to her occupation: the business of cooking, cleaning, and household […]

Susan Lawrence Dana is best remembered for her Springfield home, designed by the young Frank Lloyd Wright. In 1883, the young Susan Lawrence married Edwin Dana, who worked with Susan’s father on mining interests in the West. Six years later, Susan wrote a poem to Edwin, recounting how he first sent her a valentine and […]

On June 18, 1945, Dick Schofield, a ten-year-old fourth grader from Harvard Park School, had the opportunity to meet the state’s top elected official, Gov. Dwight Green. Schofield, a representative of the Springfield Junior Baseball League, was there to promote the Old Time Baseball Players Association’s “Baseball Day” at Lanphier Park. The program for “Baseball […]

On May 27, 1942, the Hunn sisters of Springfield were innocence and beauty incarnate as they modeled their new spring outfits at Aunt Hannah’s Baby Shop, which was then located at 126 N. Fifth St. in the Orpheum Recreation Palace. They had been specially outfitted for a party at the Leland Hotel to honor their […]