A grand tradition at the Grandstand

50 years of entertainment at the Illinois State Fair

It wasn’t too long ago that the popular rock band Hootie and the Blowfish sold out the Grandstand at the Illinois State Fair. In 1995, the year after late author David Foster Wallace wrote about

Fighting like crazy

A courageous woman’s assault on insane asylums

On June 18, 1860, Elizabeth Packard, a mother of six and wife of a Calvinist minister in Manteno, Ill., was carried from her home and admitted to the Illinois Hospital for the Insane in Jacksonville a

The makeup of yesteryear

Whale oil, raw beef and other 19th century beauty secrets

I recently learned a new reason why I’m glad I didn’t live in the 1800s — 19th century cosmetics.I became enlightened about this topic after attending an interesting 3½-hour seminar

The demise of child labor in Springfield

Nicotine poisoning was a hazard when kids made cigars

In the late 1800s reformers in Illinois became concerned about child labor in manufacturing, especially in the state’s larger cities. They had good reason to be. In some shops young children wor

Springfield whipped up a storm

Justice on the square was swift and cheaper than jail

Today, Springfield’s downtown square is a peaceful place. Its manicured lawn and grand Old State Capitol suggest that it was a location of thoughtful debate and mannered discourse among our earl

Illinois and the Panic of 1819

Financial problems are nothing new to the Prairie State. Sadly, neither are inept responses by governmental officials. After the Panic of 1819 one of our own townsmen, an esteemed founding father, was

The legacy of Brother James Court

Eighty years of ministry to men in Springfield

Brother Anthony Joseph came to the St. James Trade School from Syracuse, N.Y., in 1967 to join the Franciscan Brothers in running the school. The Springfield school on the northeast side closed in 197

Getting to know the natives

The story of this area’s earliest residents, before they were forced to walk the Trail of Death

It’s easy in this Land of Lincoln Obsession to think that our area’s history began with the sixteenth president or with white settlers in general. But doing so ignores the many Native Amer

Abolition, the spark that ignited a revolution

A tumultuous time in Illinois, to be explored at history symposium March 7-9

One hundred fifty years ago this year, Abraham Lincoln was elected president and the slavery question was threatening to dissolve the nation.In Illinois, Lincoln’s allegedly “free” s

Mad for ‘Mad Men’

University of Illinois symposium looks at the 1960s through the lens of the television drama

From the bored housewife and the determined workingwoman to the philandering businessman, the television drama “Mad Men” explores a cast of 1960s archetypal characters, and displays them w