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WGLT McHistory Series

62 posts

McHistory: Depression-era post office mural chronicles development of Normal

By Bill Kemp
January 5th, 2026

U.S. society has largely moved away from the idea that public structures should symbolize elements of civilization and aspiration. Resources and economy of spending often carry more weight now in shaping design. During the Great Depression though, the federal government tried to stimulate the economy by funding a variety of buildings and programs.

WGLT McHistory Series

McHistory: When Downtown Bloomington reigned in retail

By Bill Kemp
November 25th, 2025
WGLT McHistory Series

McHistory: Homelessness in Bloomington-Normal has been a challenge in many eras

By Bill Kemp
October 30th, 2025
WGLT McHistory Series

McHistory: Modern electronics rests with Bloomington-Normal's only Nobel Prize winner

By Bill Kemp
September 15th, 2025
WGLT McHistory Series

McHistory: Bloomington-Normal's legacy of public protest not always civil

August 13th, 2025
WGLT McHistory Series

McHistory: Even before Route 66, motorists camped at a way stop in Bloomington

By Bill Kemp
June 26th, 2025
WGLT McHistory Series

McHistory: The 100 Bushel Corn Club boosted mid-century ag yields

By Bill Kemp
June 13th, 2025
WGLT McHistory Series

McHistory: Newly donated World War II diary shares POW experience of Normal resident

By Bill Kemp
April 17th, 2024
WGLT McHistory Series

McHistory: Baseball ban a dark day for some in Bloomington

By Bill Kemp
October 13th, 2023

McHistory goes back in time to explore big moments and small stories from McLean County history. McHistory episodes can be heard periodically on WGLT's Sound Ideas.

WGLT McHistory Series

McHistory: Life, literature and children

By Bill Kemp
September 26th, 2023
WGLT McHistory Series

McHistory: Paul Rhymer, the man who put Bloomington 'on the air'

By Bill Kemp
August 8th, 2023
WGLT McHistory Series

McHistory: Richard Blue was the first Black person to run for Bloomington council

By Bill Kemp
July 31st, 2023
WGLT McHistory Series

McHistory: ‘King of Swedes’ kept Bloomington streets clean

By Bill Kemp
November 15th, 2022
WGLT McHistory Series

McHistory: Helen Clark McCurdy was a political pioneer in Bloomington

By Bill Kemp
October 20th, 2022
WGLT McHistory Series

McHistory: Housekeeper for the affluent and the tawdry

By Bill Kemp
August 13th, 2022
WGLT McHistory Series

McHistory: Press Butler the great detective

By Bill Kemp
August 9th, 2022
WGLT McHistory Series

McHistory: George Hoagland’s ‘Oil of Gladness’

By Bill Kemp
June 22nd, 2022
WGLT McHistory Series

McHistory: Multitalented suffrage leader promoted women’s health and the vote

By Bill Kemp
February 18th, 2022
WGLT McHistory Series

McHistory: A Bloomington Huckster’s best-selling medicine was Blackberry Balsam

By Bill Kemp
January 12th, 2022
WGLT McHistory Series

McHistory: Noted Author Harold Sinclair of Bloomington

By Bill Kemp
December 7th, 2021
WGLT McHistory Series

McHistory: Early Settlers Battled Prairie Fire to Tame the Land

By Bill Kemp
September 27th, 2021
WGLT McHistory Series

McHistory: Dr. William Hill, A Man of Many Contradictions

By Bill Kemp
September 16th, 2021
WGLT McHistory Series

McHistory: Sigmund Livingston and the Anti-Defamation League

By Bill Kemp
August 31st, 2021
WGLT McHistory Series

McHistory: Rags the Dog, The Illinois Traction System Mascot

By Bill Kemp
August 11th, 2021
WGLT McHistory Series

McHistory: McLean County’s Connection to the Tri-State Tornado of 1925

By Bill Kemp
July 19th, 2021
WGLT McHistory Series

McHistory: Eleanor Roosevelt’s Visit to McLean County

By Bill Kemp
June 24th, 2021
WGLT McHistory Series

McHistory: Inhumane Conditions at the McLean County Poor Farm

By Bill Kemp
June 11th, 2021
WGLT McHistory Series

McHistory: Bowles Street Named for the ‘old singing soldier” with the medicine wagon

By Bill Kemp
May 13th, 2021
WGLT McHistory Series

McHistory: Fighting to get women right to vote

By Bill Kemp
April 23rd, 2021
WGLT McHistory Series

McHistory: The 1914 McLean County Basketball Champions

By Bill Kemp
February 15th, 2021
WGLT McHistory Series