Finding Aids about Politics and Government
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9/11 Collection
The 9/11 attacks were a series of four coordinated terrorist attacks by the Islamic group, al-Quada against the United States on the mo...
Abstracts of Title
An abstract of title, or title abstract, briefly summarizes the various activities affecting ownership of a parcel of land. The abstrac...
Adlai Stevenson Lecture Series 1965-1981
Adlai E. Stevenson, former Illinois Governor and two-time presidential candidate, grew up in Bloomington and is buried at Evergreen Mem...
All About Normal
The Normal City Council approved creating the “All About Normal” Civic Academy on October 16th, 2006. The academy provided an opportuni...
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
Founded in 1926, the American Civil Liberties Union is the largest national voluntary organization committed to the protection and defe...
Angler’s Lake
The citizen effort to preserve Angler’s Lake, located in southeast Bloomington, began in 1979. Bloomington residents recognized the val...
Apollo 11 Pantagraph Run
This collection of The Daily Pantagraph covers the Apollo 11 space flight and Moon landing. The daily coverage includes all aspects of ...
Auth Family
The Auth family opened a grocery in Bloomington around 1931 and operated it for many years at 1401 W. Market Street, Bloomington. They ...
Baldini, John
The parents of John Baldini emigrated from Italy to the United States during the major influx of Southern and Eastern Europeans. The f...
Bent, Horatio C.
Horatio C. Bent was born June 24, 1881 to Horatio G. and Adah Crist Bent. Bent Elementary school in Bloomington was named for his fathe...
Bloomington Center for the Performing Arts (BCPA)
The Bloomington Center for the Performing Arts (BCPA) occupies a site built in 1921 to house The American Passion Plan and other arts a...
Bloomington Fire Department Collection
This collection consists of photocopied newspaper articles, a few original artifacts, and a CD-ROM of digital images of a scrapbook kep...
Bloomington Municipal Collection
The City of Bloomington was incorporated in 1950. The first mayor was David L. Perry, and the council was formed from six wards of the ...
Bloomington Public Library Time Capsule 1977
In August 1977, Withers / Bloomington Public Library staff sealed a time capsule at the new library. The contents were opened on Novemb...
Bloomington Sesquicentennial
Bloomington celebrated its 150th birthday with a free, family-friendly downtown festival on Saturday & Sunday, July 1-2, 2000. Acti...
Bloomington-Normal Black History Project
In 1970 Marge Smith and others began to organize local African Americans to discuss their history. This group (Margaret Esposito, Joe M...
Bogart, Ron and Doris (Stevenson Items)
The items in this collection were presented by Ron and Doris Bogart to the McLean County Historical Society in honor of their family. T...
Bus Transit
The Bloomington-Normal public transit system opened in 1938 under the name “Bloomington-Normal City Lines Inc.” During its early period...
Carlock Public Library
Opening in 1979, the Carlock Public Library, formerly known as the Carey E. Burdette Memorial Library, provides the library needs for t...
Cold War
The Cold War was an ongoing political rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies that developed...
Constitution Trail
Constitution Trail is a “linear park” that provides more than 37 miles of trails for biking, hiking, and walking in the greater Bloomin...
Corn on the Curb 2000
Corn-on-the-Curb, inspired by Chicago’s “Cows on Parade” in 1999, was conceived by Mayor Judy Markowitz to showcase Bloomington’s upcom...
Davis Correspondence
This collection contains photocopies of correspondence from / to David and Sarah Davis from / to many people, including Abraham Lincoln...
Delphi — Bloomington Chapter
Founded in 1930 as a business woman’s civic group, the Bloomington Chapter of Delphi was part of a national organization. It pursued bo...
Democratic National Convention 1984
The 1984 Democratic National Convention nominated Walter Mondale and Geraldine Ferraro for President and Vice President, respectively. ...
District 87 Unit 5 Consolidation Campaign
In 1992 an ad hoc committee requested a study of the future of education in Bloomington-Normal, beginning what would become a campaign ...
Downtown Bloomington Historical Survey
In 1984 Greg Koos and William Walters began the work of obtaining National Historic standing for the Bloomington Downtown Area. Their w...
Downtown Bloomington Redevelopment Collection
The downtown Bloomington Redevelopment Collection contains various plans and miscellaneous information. Newspaper clippings, independen...
Election Authorities
Since the 1970 Illinois constitution, the State Board of Elections has administered the election laws of the State of Illinois. It over...
Ewing, Thomas
Thomas Ewing was born in Lincoln, Illinois on September 19, 1935, the son of Samuel and Harriett Ewing in Atlanta, Illinois. He was edu...
Fell Family
Jesse W. Fell was a Bloomington, IL businessman and landowner. He is also known for founding of Illinois State University as well as ma...
Fifer-Bohrer Papers
Joseph Fifer was born near Staunton, Virginia, in 1840, and moved with his parents to Danvers, Illinois in 1854. His wife, Gertrude (L...
Freedom Train
The Freedom Train began as a concept formulated by government officials in early 1946. Strongly supported by the Archivist of the Unite...
Gose, Carol Mishler Scrapbooks
Carol Mishler Gose collected this material and wrote: “I remember being in sixth grade in the coat room at Franklin Grade School when ...
Hamilton, Violet
Hamilton was an active citizen of Normal and McLean County, where she wrote a Centennial Pageant for the town of Normal in 1965, was a ...
Irvin, Lawrence
Lawrence E. Irvin, son of Patrick and Mary Irvin, was born May 27, 1911 at Lake Bloomington, Illinois. He attended Trinity High School ...
Ives, Elizabeth Buffie
Born in Bloomington in 1897, Elizabeth Stevenson “Buffie” Ives was the first of two children born to Lewis Green and Helen Davis Steven...
James S. Ewing Speeches
James S. Ewing (1835- 1918) was born in what is today Woodford County. He came to Bloomington as a boy in 1840 and lived here nearly al...
Kinser, Betty
Betty Marshall Kinser was born on November 15, 1941 in Bloomington, IN. In her youth she was known to be strong-willed and athletic. Sh...
Koos Family
This collection contains financial, medical, and military information, correspondence, and scrapbooks for the parents, grandparents, si...
Laurenti, Luellen
The collection includes assorted correspondence, photographs, news articles, baby books, ISU memorial scholarship documents, etc. Most...
Lennon, John Brown
The John Brown Lennon collection contains newspaper articles, personal and professional correspondence, certificates of membership and ...
Lincoln Statue Bicentennial Project (1975-1978)
V.L. (“Budd”) Fairfield (1926-2009). Bloomington High School American history teacher, served as a member of the 1976 Bloomington Bicen...
Lincoln, Abraham Recollections and Newspaper Articles
This collection consists primarily of newspaper recollections of Abraham Lincoln made by McLean County residents. Lincoln scholars are...
Lincoln, Abraham— Miscellaneous Publications
Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) was the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination. Prior to his role in nationa...
Lincolns in Town
The Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission of McLean County was formed jointly by Bloomington, Normal and McLean County to celebrate t...
Mark & Margaret Kalahar Hayes
Mark Bruno Hayes (1889-1959) was born in Bloomington, Illinois and earned a pharmacy certificate from the Illinois School of Pharmacy i...
Markowitz, Judy
The Judy Markowitz Collection primarily consists of material from Markowitz’s time as mayor, including campaign materials, emails, lett...
Martin Luther King Jr Awards Program — Human Relation Commissions
The Martin Luther King Jr Awards program is an annual event sponsored by the Bloomington Human Relations Commission and the Normal Huma...
McLean County Chamber of Commerce
This collection contains annual reports; contact lists; work program packets; brochures; pamphlets; documents and correspondence relate...
McLean County Courthouse 4 Preservation Collection
The McLean County Courthouse was built between 1900 and 1903 after the Great Fire of June 1900. In the 1960s the courthouse was not lar...
McLean County Courthouse Clock
A clock was installed in the courthouse tower in 1878, and that year it was decided that the bell would toll on the hour and half hour....
McLean County Courthouses
Documents include general histories, newspaper articles, architects’ specifications, cornerstone and dedication ceremony programs, time...
McLean County Emergency Squad
In 1967 with the near completion of Interstate 74 and Interstate 55, Bloomington, Illinois had concerns about increased traffic volume....
McLean County Government
By action of the General Assembly of Illinois, the County of McLean, Illinois was formed on December 25, 1830, out of Tazewell County. ...
McLean County Jail Review Committee Collection
The McLean County Jail Review Committee is a citizens’ group founded in 1980 at the suggestion of then Sheriff Steve Brienen. I...
McLean County Poor Farm
For more than 90 years, the McLean County Poor Farm, located south of Bloomington, housed some of the area’s poorest and most unfortuna...
McLean County Sesquicentennial Committee
The McLean County Sesquicentennial Celebration commemorated the founding of McLean County 150 years before in 1831. It was held on Apri...
McLean County WWII Memorial
The WWII Memorial Committee was formed in the fall of 1994 after Normal Mayor Paul Harmon noticed there was a memorial for local soldie...
Money Creek Municipal
Money Creek Township included six square miles of land used for agriculture. The present-day Village of Towanda is where Money Creek To...
Moraine View State Recreation Area
This collection includes newspaper clippings from 1941 through 1985, plus manuscript histories of Dawson Lake and of the LeRoy Sportsme...
Normal Anti-Liquor Ordinance Petition
In November 1866, a petition for an ordinance prohibiting the sale of liquor in the town of Normal was circulated. The petition was sig...
Normal Municipal
This collection includes Town of Normal publications—both general and department-specific—as well as an early ordinance book, and a pet...
Political Ephemera
This collection includes an array of ballots, flyers, pamphlets, and correspondences regarding election and candidate information for M...
Reitan, Carol
This collection includes a selection of materials donated by Carol A. Reitan largely involving her civic life as mayor and her two sena...
Ronald Bogart – Adlai Stevenson I
This collection contains autographs of members of the Stevenson family, a biography of Adlai E. Stevenson, an appeal bond, corresponden...
Ropp, Gordon L. State Representative
Gordon L. Ropp was born in Normal on April 5, 1933. He served as State Representative from 1979-1993 representing the 44th and later th...
School District Consolidation Campaign 1992-96
In 1992 an ad hoc committee requested a study of the future of education in Bloomington-Normal, beginning what would become a campaign ...
Scott, Garrett
The Garrett Scott 2003 Re-Election Campaign Collection primarily consists of material around the time of the Town of Normal’s primary a...
Scott, Judge John Milton
John Milton Scott was born on August 1, 1823 in Belleville, St. Clair County, Illinois. In 1848 Scott was admitted to the bar, and he t...
Sister City Asahikawa
This collection contains correspondence, budgets, fundraiser information, newspaper clippings, 20th and 25th anniversary celebratory ma...
State Farm Building
The State Farm Building in downtown Bloomington, the tallest building in the downtown area, has long been a local landmark. Desi...
Stevenson Boyhood Home
Adlai E. Stevenson II (1900-1965) was Governor of Illinois 1949-1953, and the Democratic Party Nominee for U. S. President in 1952 and ...
Stevenson, Adlai E II Miscellaneous
This collection contains newspaper articles, correspondence, campaign materials, political cartoons, FBI memos, play scripts, and other...
Stevenson, Adlai E II Newspaper Clippings
The collection includes primarily newspaper articles from a number of years of Adlai Stevenson II’s life (1943-1970) from a variety of ...
Stevenson, Adlai E. II
Adlai Ewing Stevenson II was born in Los Angeles, California on February 5, 1900. He is the grandson of Adlai E. Stevenson I who serve...
Tick, Irving Bloomington Human Relations Commission
Irving Stanton Tick (1928-2011) was born in Bloomington, Illinois and was a 1951 graduate of the University of California at Los Angele...
Underwood, Justice Robert C.
The Justice Robert C. Underwood collection contains newspaper articles, correspondence, speeches, campaign and election materials, and ...
Uniquely Bloomington
In May 1999, the City of Bloomington created a semi-independent commission with city funding. The group secured a director and began wo...
Urban Storm Water Task Force
In 1976, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency formed a Task Force on urban stormwater as a source of water pollution. This Urba...
Vietnam War
This collection contains letters, newspaper articles, and various manuscripts relating to and created by residents and relatives of res...
Vladimir/Canterbury Sister City Committee
Local citizen visits to the Soviet Union, the Portland-based Ground Zero Pairing Project and the Northwestern University 1986 conferenc...
Voice for Choice
Founded in mid-1989, Voice for Choice was a local organization “devoted to ensuring the right to safe and legal abortion and the contin...
Water
The file contains various reports, newspaper clippings, maps, and ephemera regarding the water supply in Bloomington-Normal and McLean ...
Wellmerling, Louis F.
This collection spans from 1927-1941 and contains many photocopied and original newspaper clippings relevant to the activities of Mayor...
William B. Price—McLean County Courthouse
The Mclean County Courthouse, located in the main square (200 N. Main Street) of downtown Bloomington, Illinois, was completed in 1903....
World War I Collection
The World War I Collection is divided into five sections, organized from general to specific as documents relate to McLean County. The...
World War I: State Council of Defense
During the summer of 1918, the State Council of Defense of Illinois organized local committees to collect “World War”-related documents...