Archive of: February, 2014

On Saturday, May 21, 1955, some 500 area residents gathered at the Bloomington High School gymnasium on East Washington Street to attend the “Miss Heart of the Corn Belt" beauty pageant competition.

The Museum owns a very unique method used to transport illegal hooch; a prohibition doll.

In this Black History Month edition of our Sound Ideas recurring series "McHistory," you'll hear from a Spanish Amerian War Soldier from Bloomington who writes home from eastern Cuba.

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Designed by local architect George H. Miller, this steel-frame “high-rise" with cream-colored glazed brick, was the tallest building in Bloomington upon its completion.

“Ike" Sanders and his first wife Allie Headley opened what's believed to be the first restaurant in Bloomington owned and operated by African Americans. The restaurant, which also doubled as a rooming house, was located at 306 South Main Street.

Maybe I have spring fever. Or, maybe it's my excitement for the upcoming play, “Old Hoss" which will be performed March 7th - 9th here in our Governor Fifer Courtroom. Whatever the reason, I'm ready for some baseball; and, what better time to share one of the Museum's most beloved treasures!

Seen here is a 1944 meeting of the local NAACP gathered at 318 South Main Street, a former sprawling single family residence that would in a few years time become the Twin City Recreation Center.