Health and Medicine

A Community in Conflict

1 item

1880

Some women were determined to achieve success in the career of their choice. Those who succeeded still faced prejudice and discriminatory pay practices.

Digital Exhibit

Abraham Lincoln in McLean County

1 item

Correspondence

Before telegraph lines connected Central Illinois communities in the early 1850s, most of Linco...

Digital Exhibit

Articles

14 items

A light-skinned man stands in a dark plaid 3-piece suit, tie, and hat. He's outdoors, with grasses and trees in the background. He has both hands in his pocket. Superimposed on the photo is a booklet title

Area’s deadliest cholera outbreak in 1855

During the summer of 1855, cholera swept through Bloomington and outlying communities. It was o...

Article

Arrowsmith once home to small hospital

“It is very seldom that a town of some 350 inhabitants can boast of an up-to-date hospital,” de...

Article

BroMenn donation speaks to 125 years of community service

Carle BroMenn Medical Center has undergone one transformation after another since its modest be...

Article

Two light-skinned men stand outside a military vehicle. They are parked on a dirt road with a masonry building with large arched windows behind them.

Dr. E.D. Churchill, savior to wounded GIs

Winning a war is not only about killing—it’s also about saving lives, especially if those lives...

Article

Early African-American doctor faced segregated Twin Cities

African-American physician Eugene G. Covington came to Bloomington about 1900 to open a medical...

Article

Ellen Ferguson, 19th century suffragist, polygamist

Ellen B. Ferguson, who made Bloomington-Normal her home in the 1870s, was a remarkable but ulti...

Article

Few locals found fame, fortune in Klondike Gold Rush

Back in the late 1800s, a fair number of Central Illinois residents found themselves in the wil...

Article

Great Epizootic of 1872 ravaged the horse population

Bloomington’s streets were eerily quiet for several weeks in late November and early December 1...

Article

Influenza pandemic brought Twin Cities to standstill

“Do Not Fear Influenza,” read a local Red Cross notice from October 1918. “Learn how to avoid i...

Article

New Year’s Eve 1919 meant hope for better times

One hundred years ago, New Year’s Eve 1919 brought hope for better days to come. After all, the...

Article

Poor Farm home to society’s friendless and forlorn

“Be careful or you'll end up at the poor farm” was a popular admonition well in the mid-20...

Article

Railroad shops center of deadly 1920 typhoid outbreak

For much of its first 100 years, Bloomington’s formerly unreliable water supply threatened to h...

Article

Women’s Improvement League kept Normal clean and healthy

Editor's note: This is Bill Kemp's 650th original "Page from Our Past" colu...

Article

A woman with light skin, curly hair pulled back, a lacy white collar, and white high-collared dark blouse

‘Dr. Mrs. Keck’ battled male-dominated medical establishment

Back in the 19th century when miracle pills, plasters, creams, powders and tonics promised to c...

Article

Biographies

21 items

Covington, Dr. Eugene

Dr. E. G. Covington was the first established and successful African American medical doctor in...

Biography

Crothers, Dr. Eli Kirk

Dr. Eli Kirk Crothers (1826-1893) was a successful physician and druggist from the time of his ...

Biography

Crothers, Dr. Marie Louise

Dr. Mrs. Marie Louise (DePew) Crothers (1833-1920), wife of well-respected physician and druggi...

Biography

Erickson, Alexander G.

Swedish immigration during the nineteenth century was part of a larger trend occurring in the w...

Biography

Geneva, Carolyn Schertz

Carolyn Schertz Geneva was born on October 13, 1892 in Hudson. Illinois. She was the daughter o...

Biography

Hill, Dr. William

Dr. William Hill (1829-1906) was a talented surgeon and one of Bloomington’s most respected phy...

Biography

Ijams, Lewis Ellington

Lewis E. Ijams was born on November 21, 1841 near Zanesville, Ohio. His parents were Lewis and...

Biography

Jones, Annie Ethel

Annie Ethel Jones (1899 – 1991) was a Black woman born and reared on a Mississippi farm, which ...

Biography

Kaywood, Florence Stevens

Florence (Stevens) Kaywood was born on October 8, 1864 to William and Sarah (Shields) Stevens i...

Biography

Kessler, Frances

Frances Kessler had a passion for music and education. Music had always been an interest in her...

Biography

Kimball, Luella

Not much is known about Luella Kimball, sometimes known as Luella Rankin. Luella was the fourth...

Biography

Kirkpatrick, Charles

Much of the information about Charles Kirkpatrick’s life comes from an autobiographical intervi...

Biography

MacGillivray, Dr. Margaret

Dr. Margaret MacGillivray was born in Dunfermline, Scotland on October 21, 1845. She was a very...

Biography

McCurdy, Helen Clark

Helen Clark was born in Bloomington, Illinois on February 21, 1866 to James and Anna (Bacon) Cl...

Biography

Muxfeld, Louise

Louise Muxfeld, known as “Lizzie” by all, was born as Johanna Louise Catherine Tobecksen on Jun...

Biography

Rogers, Dr. Thomas

No matter one’s opinion regarding Dr. Thomas Pierce Rogers’s professional practice or political...

Biography

Scott, John Milton

John Milton Scott was born on August 1, 1823 in Belleville, St. Clair County, Illinois. His par...

Biography

Smith, Alice Orme

Alice Orme Smith served as a nurse with the American, British, and French forces during World W...

Biography

Smith, Dr. Lee

Dr. Lee Smith was born on May 8, 1832 near Havens Grove, Illinois. He was the first child born ...

Biography

Stipp, Dr. George Winfield

Dr. George W. Stipp was born on January 27, 1799 near Winchester, Frederick County, Virginia. ...

Biography

Wakefield, Cyrenius

Cyrenius Wakefield (1815-1885): Dr. Cyrenius Wakefield settled in Bloomington, IL in 1850. Wake...

Biography

Blog

10 items

Dr. Moate becomes proficient knitter April 1946

Dr. Thomas Moate, who practiced medicine in Gridley for 50 years, picked up knitting at the age...

Blog Post

First Baby of the New Year January 1, 1965 Edition

Shirley Agner (left) holds her as-yet unnamed newborn son, who arrived on the scene at 12:37 a....

Blog Post

McHistory: Bloomington’s War on Dogs

Listen to the audio on WGLT's website hereMcHistory goes back in time to explore big momen...

Blog Post

McHistory: Going to Danvers to Take the Cure

Listen to the audio on WGLT's website hereMcHistory goes back in time to explore big momen...

Blog Post

McHistory: ‘King of Swedes’ kept Bloomington streets clean

Listen to the audio on WGLT's website hereMcHistory goes back in time to explore big momen...

Blog Post

Photo of the Week, 28: Waaaaaa!

Newborn Nursery, St. Joseph's Hospital, Bloomington 1929. Seen here are Sisters M. Eligia ...

Blog Post

Red Cross knitters July 1940

In the summer of 1940, Marietta Howard, McLean County Red Cross executive secretary, issued an ...

Blog Post

St. Joseph’s Hospital, Bloomington Under Construction, circa 1967

This circa 1967 aerial looks northwest. That’s under-construction St. Joseph’s Hospital in the ...

Blog Post

Three hospitals; three styles of caps June 1958

The distinctive caps worn by graduate nurses at the three Bloomington-Normal hospitals were com...

Blog Post

Twin City Stork Club New Year’s Day 1958

Nancy Sue Hannah was the first Bloomington-Normal newborn of 1958, arriving 12 hours and 25 min...

Blog Post

Finding Aids

26 items

Augsperger, LaRue

LaRue Augspurger’s diary records her observations, experiences, and adventures at Mennonite Hos...

Finding Aid

Beel, Floyd E.—World War II Army Air Force Service

Floyd Everett Beel was born to Leown Iri and Emma Jane Calvert Beel in Decatur, IL, on February...

Finding Aid

Brokaw Hospital

In 1894 five physicians made pledges of $500 each toward the creation of a hospital that would ...

Finding Aid

Brokaw Hospital Newsletter

The establishment of Brokaw Hospital in Normal, IL dates to 1896. In 1981, Brokaw Hospital merg...

Finding Aid

Brokaw Service League Follies

The Brokaw Hospital Service League was organized in 1925. It was one of the oldest Hospital org...

Finding Aid

Brokaw/Mennonite/BroMenn Hospitals

This collection includes written materials concerning three interrelated Bloomington-Normal hos...

Finding Aid

COVID-19 Collection

On January 21, 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed the first c...

Finding Aid

Centenarians

This is a collection of newspaper articles documenting McLean County residents who lived to be ...

Finding Aid

Espey (Pharmacy)

The small, brick building at the northeast corner of Main and Front streets is one of the earli...

Finding Aid

Exhibit: "A Matter of Life and Death"

This collection of Medical oral histories was gathered by the McLean County Historical Society ...

Finding Aid

Fairview Sanatorium

Tuberculosis, also known as “white death” or consumption, is a bacterial disease that mainly af...

Finding Aid

Fenelon, Dr. J. H.

Dr. J.H. Fenelon was a physician who practiced for more than 45 years in McLean County. During ...

Finding Aid

Geneva, William B. & Carolyn Schertz

Carolyn Mabel Schertz was born October 13, 1892 in Hudson, Illinois, the daughter of David Sche...

Finding Aid

Gladys Washburn Mennonite School of Nursing

Born in 1904 to Sarah Myers and George A. Washburn, Gladys moved with her family from the Heywo...

Finding Aid

Hubbard Family

The Hubbard family, consisting of Silas (father), Juliana (mother), Charles (son), and Hannah ...

Finding Aid

McLean County Medical Assistants Association

On November 17, 1958, a group of twenty-four medical assistants—medical secretaries, laboratory...

Finding Aid

McLean County Medical Society Auxiliary/Alliance

The McLean County Medical Society Auxiliary was formed in 1927 upon the suggestion of the Illin...

Finding Aid

McLean County Medical Society Minutes

In March 1854, fourteen local physicians met to organize a medical society. The Society was for...

Finding Aid

Mennonite Hospital Association

The Mennonite Hospital Association (MHA) dates to 1919. The members of the MHA were churches of...

Finding Aid

Mennonite Hospital Newsletter

The establishment of Bloomington's Mennonite Hospital dates to 1919. By 1940, the hospital...

Finding Aid

Mennonite Hospital Nursing

The Mennonite School of Nursing was established as the Mennonite Sanitarium Training School in ...

Finding Aid

Planned Parenthood

The collection contains Kay Wilson’s “History of Planned Parenthood of McLean County” scrapbook...

Finding Aid

St. Joseph’s Hospital

In March 1880, members of the Sisters of the Order of St. Francis purchased the two-story Waddl...

Finding Aid

St. Joseph’s School of Nursing

St. Joseph Hospital School of Nursing was a Catholic institution conducted by the Sisters of Th...

Finding Aid

Stickrod’s Drug Store

According to Bloomington-Normal city directory listings, Elmer H. Stickrod established a drug s...

Finding Aid

Withers Home

When Sarah B. Withers died in 1897, she left her home at 305 West Locust Street in Bloomington,...

Finding Aid

Making a Home

3 items

Burtis Family

The settlement of the frontier was often one of speculation. Buy land cheap, raise the price, a...

Digital Exhibit

Livingston Family

In 1860 Hannah Eliel, age nine, boarded the sailing ship Clobus with her teenage sisters Betty ...

Digital Exhibit

O'Neil Family

Mary Motherway O’Neil lost her husband from fever at the height of the Irish famine. Because sh...

Digital Exhibit

Publications

2 items

A Matter Of Life And Death

Health, illness and medical care are universal aspects of human experience--matters of life and...

Publication

Biographical History of the Members of the McLean County Medical Society: 1854-1954

Publication

Speakers Bureau

1 item

The 1918-1919 Flu Pandemic in McLean County

Speakers Bureau

Videos

4 items

A Deadly Deception: The Asbestos Tragedy in McLean County

Video

Artists, Advocates, Acrobats, & More! Women Who Made McLean County History

Video

COVID-19 Past, Present, and Future: Lessons Learned

Video

The Silent Killer: Dangers of Asbestos in the Workplace Panel Discussion

Video

Working for a Living

4 items

Advancing Healthcare

Featuring:Dr. Loren M. Boon, (1917 – 1995), doctor...

Digital Exhibit

Changing Healthcare Attitudes

The medical profession began to accept a limited number of women and African American professio...

Digital Exhibit

Practicing Medicine

Frontier healthcare providers were stretched thin and had few resources for healing patients.Fr...

Digital Exhibit

Reaching a National Market

Because of railroad shipping, manufacturers like Wakefield could sell their products throughout...

Digital Exhibit