This weekend, see an original play based on the wedding of Mary Todd and Abraham Lincoln. On Nov. 7, 1842, Springfield’s elite gathered at the home of Ninian and Elizabeth Edwards to witness Elizabeth’s younger sister, Mary, give her hand in marriage to a young lawyer by the name of Abraham Lincoln. During the play, […]
Abraham Lincoln
Posted inArts & Culture
Abraham Lincoln and the Todd women
The public is invited to commemorate the birth of Abraham Lincoln by attending the Eighth Annual Lincoln Lecture on Friday, Feb. 12, at 9 a.m. in the Trutter Center at Lincoln Land Community College. This year’s lecture, entitled “Abraham Lincoln and the Todd Women of Aristocracy Hill” will be presented by historian Erika Holst. Erika […]
Posted inNews
Ghost of a library
ILLUSTRATION by CHRIS BRITT While tourists bustled in and around the museum side of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum on a recent summer day, the library portion was quiet. Just two people perused newspapers in the Steve Neal Reading Room, named after the late Chicago Sun-Times columnist who crusaded against the ALPLM becoming […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Distinguished documents
Undying Words: Lincoln 1858-1865 Abraham Lincoln is widely recognized as one of the best public speakers of all time. Through his speeches, Lincoln inspired citizens to vote him into the White House, abolish slavery, reject war and promote and perpetuate a government by and for the people. Undying Words: Lincoln 1858-1865, the newest exhibit at […]
Posted inMusic
Thanksgiving eve evening
Brooke Thomas and Shayla Logan as Sugar & Spice play Julia’s Kitchen & Lounge, 8 to 11 p.m., on Wed., Nov. 26 for a Black Masquerade party PHOTO BY LAURA KAY COFFEY For years now, I’ve been preaching that Thanksgiving Eve is the biggest bar and club party night of the calendar year in the […]
Posted inMusic
Springfield wherever you go
Amy Benton performs at Fire and Ale in Sherman on Friday. A week ago, I was in sunny central Florida (it actually was 55 and raining most of the time) playing a few shows with friends. I’m glad to be back and I’d like to thank Ken Carlyle, Patrick Hagerman, Josh Reilly and Brian Reilly […]
Posted inOpinion
Where Labor Day came from, and where it’s going
Webster’s dictionary tells us that Labor Day was “set aside for special recognition of working people.” That’s nice, but “set aside” by whom? It certainly wasn’t the Wall Street corporate and political powers that be. They nearly swallowed their cigars when the idea of honoring labor’s importance to America’s economy and social well-being was first […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Telling tales
Enjoy the spoken word and song during Illinois Historic Preservation Agency’s Once Upon A Prairie storytelling program at the Old State Capitol State Historic Site, Aug. 17. Internationally acclaimed storyteller, author, historian and naturalist, Brian “Fox” Ellis will share Civil War stories in Representative Hall, where Abraham Lincoln once worked. Ellis will recite poems by […]
Posted inNews
Bringing people back downtown
When Jasper Madonia started working in downtown Springfield in 1939, the downtown was a different place from today. He describes a bustling place so busy that he had to push his way through the crowds of people during his lunch breaks. His favorite memory of working downtown is the Fannie May chocolate store that used […]
Posted inNews
State suspends doctor, finally
When Jasper Madonia started working in downtown Springfield in 1939, the downtown was a different place from today. He describes a bustling place so busy that he had to push his way through the crowds of people during his lunch breaks. His favorite memory of working downtown is the Fannie May chocolate store that used […]
Posted inMusic
Kirwan, Foster and Lincoln
What do the songs “Oh! Susanna,” “Camptown Races” (“doo-dah, doo-dah”) and “Old Folks at Home” (“… way down upon the Swanee River”) all have in common? Other than most of you are now humming the tunes of these immensely popular songs, they were all written by the famed, mid-19th century American composer, Stephen Foster. Now […]
Posted inOpinion
A penny here, a penny there…
I read with dismay – I always read with dismay, like some people always sleep with their cat – that the president would like the federal government to stop minting pennies. They can buy virtually nothing and cost more than twice their value to make, indeed are worth so little than even freelance writers don’t […]
