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Normal’s rich past dealt blow with razing of Fell house in 1980
By Bill Kemp. Published on June 25, 2013.
Beginning in the 1960s, many fine, sturdy single-family homes dating from the 19th and early 20th centuries were unceremoniously bulldo...
Community fund drive kept C&A Shops in Bloomington
By Bill Kemp. Published on March 6, 2016.
Local and state governments often offer incentives to keep existing businesses or attract new ones. These inducements—in the form of la...
Stevenson faced anti-U.N. mob in 1963
By Bill Kemp. Published on May 15, 2016.
On United Nations Day 1963, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Adlai E. Stevenson II didn’t come back to his hometown of Bloomington. Even so,...
South side firehouse built after Great Fire of 1900
By Bill Kemp. Published on May 29, 2016.
Although it hasn’t served as a Bloomington Fire Department station for well over seven decades, old Engine House No. 4 on South Main St...
Bloomington’s Fifer Bohrer first state Senator
By Bill Kemp. Published on January 8, 2017.
As thoughts this month turn to newly elected leaders assuming office, it’s a fitting time to look back at the groundbreaking legacy for...
Campaign to aid Britain comes to Bloomington
By Bill Kemp. Published on February 19, 2017.
On Dec. 5, 1940, two of Bloomington’s favorite sons returned home to call upon Americans to support Great Britain in her greatest hour ...
Local abolitionists faced rage, mob violence
By Bill Kemp. Published on July 23, 2017.
Rev. Levi Spencer came to Bloomington in April 1844, and it’s no exaggeration to say that his next four-and-a-half years in McLean Coun...
Kent State shootings spark month of campus unrest
By Bill Kemp. Published on August 5, 2018.
The Vietnam War, it’s been said, was fought on two fronts—in Southeast Asia and back home, especially on college campuses. ...
Reagan’s conservatism forged during years with GE
By Bill Kemp. Published on January 20, 2019.
U.S. President Ronald Reagan was no stranger to Bloomington-Normal, though most of his visits occurred decades before he reached the Wh...
Bloomington schools integrated decade after Civil War
By Bill Kemp. Published on February 10, 2019.
Although racially segregated schools are associated with the “Jim Crow” Deep South and the Civil Rights Movement, northern communities ...
Project to mark firefighter graves lesson in history
By Bill Kemp. Published on June 30, 2019.
As part of a Memorial Day observance last month, active and retired Twin City firefighters placed flags on the graves of former members...
President Johnson receives ‘stern rebuke’ from locals in 1866
By Bill Kemp. Published on November 10, 2019.
There’s plenty of handwringing these days over the corrosive effects of political polarization. And yes, things are pretty bad today. T...
Phoenix Hall site of Lincoln’s last speech in Bloomington
By Bill Kemp. Published on November 17, 2019.
On April 10, 1860, five-and-a-half weeks before accepting the Republican nomination for president, Abraham Lincoln was in Bloomington t...
New Year’s Eve 1919 meant hope for better times
By Bill Kemp. Published on December 29, 2019.
One hundred years ago, New Year’s Eve 1919 brought hope for better days to come. After all, the nation had been deeply scarred by the t...
Virtual cemetery walk showcases amazing Florence Funk
By Bill Kemp. Published on September 20, 2020.
The not-for-profit McLean County Museum of History celebrates local history in all its complexities and in all sorts of ways. There are...
Bloomington’s oldest park turns 165 this week
By Bill Kemp. Published on April 25, 2021.
“How pleasant it is, immediately after the noontide hour of a hot summer’s day,” mused The Pantagraph in 1857, “to stroll away from the...
Donated Vrooman letter speaks to wartime loss
By Bill Kemp. Published on October 10, 2021.
Faced with the enormity of the Second World War, it’s often difficult to put a human face on the horror. “One death is a tragedy, a mil...