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Civil War

A Community in Conflict

2 items

1850
In the 1840s and 50s, more African Americans settled in McLean County. But they soon learned that their opportunities were limited.

Digital Exhibit

1862
By the time the Civil War began, views on slavery in McLean County had become predominantly anti-slavery. But there were still those who supported slavery.

Digital Exhibit

Articles

7 items

A yellowed image shows a large three-story school made of brick. it has multiple chimneys, and a fence around the perimeter of the grounds. Blurred human figures can be seen on the sidewalk, they are moving and come across as translucent in this image. A few branches of a tree can be see on the right, they are completely bare. A small amount of snow appears to be on the ground.

Bloomington schools integrated decade after Civil War
Although racially segregated schools are associated with the “Jim Crow” Deep South and the Civi...

Article

Emancipation Day once Black community’s July 4th
In the years before the Civil War and for several decades afterward, Bloomington’s African-Amer...

Article

Harvey Hogg early martyr to Union cause
The Civil War was a brutal, decidedly unromantic slog. By its cruel end, as Ulysses S. Grant an...

Article

Hollywood Legends Brought Local Author’s Novel to Silver Screen
Bloomington writer Harold Sinclair always looked a little out of place, whether it was standing...

Article

color illustration of a very tall and narrow memorial, towering over trees and flowers in the park.

Long-gone Franklin Park monument dedicated 150 years ago
On June 17, 1869—150 years ago this week—area residents packed Bloomington’s Franklin Park to d...

Article

14 light-skinned men stand and sit for a photograph. They all appear to be old, some elderly.

Taps for last Bloomington Civil War veteran in 1940
Today the median age of Korean War veterans is 88 years old, and as the ranks of these old sold...

Article

Turbulent times at 19th century Bloomington hotel
The Ashley House, Bloomington’s largest hotel from the Civil War until its fiery end in 1900, h...

Article

Blog

6 items

McHistory: Bloomington Copperhead Ostracized For Pro-Slavery Views
Listen to the audio on WGLT's website hereMcHistory goes back in time to explore big momen...

Blog Post

McHistory: Civil War Letter Home After Battle
Listen to the audio on WGLT's website hereMcHistory goes back in time to explore big momen...

Blog Post

McHistory: Dr. William Hill, A Man of Many Contradictions
Listen to the audio on WGLT's website hereMcHistory goes back in time to explore big momen...

Blog Post

Museum Launches Contest to Color Upcoming Mural of Lincoln's Lost Speech in Downtown Bloomington, Illinois

Blog Post

Photo of the Week, 74: Red, White and Blue in Sepia
In the years after the Civil War, Union Army veteran Gilbert Henderson Bates sought, in his own...

Blog Post

Saybrook’s last Civil War widow Emma Cook, May 1938
In May 1938, the Village of Saybrook prepared to celebrate its first Decoration Day (now known ...

Blog Post

Finding Aids

12 items

Almon Morrow
The collection consists mainly of correspondence from Almon Morrow, a private in the Union Army...

Finding Aid

Castle, Drew/E. M. Pike
This collection relates to Drew W. Castle (1895-1978) and Edward M. Pike (1838-1924). Pike serv...

Finding Aid

Civil War
When war was declared in April 1861, Richard Yates, Governor of the State of Illinois and Comma...

Finding Aid

Civil War Era Correspondence
This collection contains hundreds of letters written during the Civil War by many people includ...

Finding Aid

Corn Belt Bank
The Corn Belt Bank was organized December 2, 1891 by General John McNulta, J.T. Snell, and A. S...

Finding Aid

Dossett, David C.
Born in Campbell County, TN, David Dossett moved to Anderson County, TN, with his family when h...

Finding Aid

Ela, George and Frances
This collection contains photocopied letters (and digital documents of transcriptions) from Fra...

Finding Aid

McLean County Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument
The McLean County Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument, dedicated in 1913, is located at Miller Park...

Finding Aid

Middleton, Richard & James Gill
This collection contains newspaper clippings, genealogical research, annual reports, WWII forms...

Finding Aid

Ninety-fourth Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment
This collection contains documents, both official and personal, related to the Ninety-Fourth Il...

Finding Aid

Sons of the Union Veterans of the Civil War
The Sons of the Union Veterans of the Civil War (SUVCW) Collection consists of personal and for...

Finding Aid

Thirty-third Illinois Infantry Regiment of Volunteers Company C.
This collection contains clerical records including: muster in and out rolls; inventory of supp...

Finding Aid

Oral Histories

1 item

Kathyrn Dean
State Farm employee, civic & social clubs, grandfather was Civil War veteran....

Oral History

Publications

3 items

Civil War Diaries of James W. Jessee 1861-1865
James joined the 8th Regiment of the Illinois Volunteer Infantry in July of 1861. He began keep...

Publication

It Is Begun: The Pantagraph Reports the Civil War
Here is a week-by-week sampling of America's most turbulent years, written as it happened,...

Publication

McLean County Blacks in the Civil War
Examines the extent of involvement of Black people from McLean County, Illinois in the Civil Wa...

Publication