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Native Groups

Resources are listed in alphabetical order. More information can always be found by using our website search bar, or contacting a member of our staff.

A Community in Conflict

Digital Exhibit

3 items

1730
In the 1720s the Meskwaki (named the Fox Indians by Europeans) began a long series of skirmishes and raids against the French, their Native allies, and other competing Tribes in order to gain control over hunting grounds.

Digital Exhibit

1818
The area that became McLean County was occupied by Native people when Illinois was founded. But the U.S. government wasted no time in their efforts to remove all Native claims to Illinois land.

Digital Exhibit

1822
The area’s earliest settlers found themselves geographically marginalized, which made it difficult to vote.

Digital Exhibit

Articles

Pages from our Past articles written by Bill Kemp

1 item

McLean County’s first corn farmers also mound builders
It’s been nearly 200 years since the first Euro-Americans began settling would become McLean Co...

Article

Biographies

3 items

Lucinda Barton

Barton, Lucinda
Lucinda Robinson Barton was born on January 18, 1838 in Washington Co., Missouri. When she was ...

Biography

Huggins, Sophia
Sophia Huggins (1831-1903) or “Aunt Sophia” as she was known by her clientele, was a claimed cl...

Biography

William McCullough

McCullough, William
William McCullough was born on September 11, 1811 in Flemingsburg, Kentucky.  He was the son of...

Biography

Blog

3 items

Corn farming in McLean County … 800 years ago!
Area farmer Nuel Downs, a lifelong collector of Native American relics, is shown here in mid-Ju...

Blog Post

McHistory: Early Settlers Battled Prairie Fire to Tame the Land
Listen to the audio on WGLT's website hereMcHistory goes back in time to explore big momen...

Blog Post

Museum to Immortalize Kickapoo Grand Village with Historic Marker at West Park

Blog Post

Farming in the Great Corn Belt

Digital Exhibit

1 item

Frontier Resources
The rich prairie soil was not the frontier farmer's first choice — the dense root systems ...

Digital Exhibit

Finding Aids

Archival collection finding aids (full contents of collections available on site)

5 items

Abraham, Paul J. Collection
Paul J. Abraham (1909-1989) was born in Flint, Michigan to Gregory and Elizabeth Nameth Abraham...

Finding Aid

Brigham, William B.
William Brigham was born in 1874 near Cooksville, IL. He married Emma Wissmiller in 1902, and d...

Finding Aid

Kansas Kickapoo
This small collection consists mainly of copies of letters and accounts between Milo Custer of ...

Finding Aid

Kickapoo
The Kickapoo Collection includes research papers, correspondence, firsthand and anonymous accou...

Finding Aid

Patton Cabin
The Patton Cabin was built by John Patton in 1829, making it the oldest extant building in McLe...

Finding Aid

Making a Home

Digital Exhibit

4 items

Mississippian Artifacts and Pottery
The artifacts displayed here were excavated from the only known Mississippian village in McLean...

Digital Exhibit

Mississippian Tools
Mississippians were very resourceful, transforming stone, wood, and bone into a variety of tool...

Digital Exhibit

The Kickapoo
Seven hundred years ago the Mississippian culture faded. The descendants of the Mississippians ...

Digital Exhibit

The Mississippians
The Mississippian Tradition was one characterized by mound building, fortified towns, heavy re...

Digital Exhibit

Publications

Digitized books and pamphlets. To see all books in our collection, search our library catalog.

3 items

Etnataek, the Arrowsmith battlefield

Publication

History of Bloomington and Normal, in McLean County, Illinois

Publication

Illustrated History of McLean County
In this volume of over 500 illustrations the story of this land, called McLean County, Illinois...

Publication

Research

1 item

Post Amerikan
Held by the MCMH and digitized by Eastern Illinois University. The Post Amerikan began publicat...

Article

Speakers Bureau

3 items

Buckle of the Corn Belt: An Illustrated Tour of McLean County and Everyone’s Favorite Grain

Speakers Bureau

Freedom, Land, and Community

Speakers Bureau

The Unconquerable: Kickapoo of Central Illinois

Speakers Bureau

Videos

Livestreamed and recorded presentations by staff, experts, and community members.

5 items

Buckle of the Corn Belt: An Illustrated Tour of McLean County & Everyone's Favorite Grain

Video

Contested Civil Liberties in 19th Century McLean County, with Greg Koos

Video

Exploring a 700-year-old Native American Village in McLean County with Dr. Logan Miller

Video

Pitfalls and Promise: Memorializing McLean County's Past

Video

Unconquerable: The Kickapoo of Central Illinois

Video