People

Articles

10 items

The Bloomington Bloomers pose for a team photograph at Fans Field during their 1919 pennant-winning Three-I League season.

Catcher’s mitt tells story of big leaguer ‘Butch’ Henline

The collections of the McLean County Museum of History include some 20,000 objects, and everyon...

Article

Duke Ellington big draw in Twin Cities

Someone once said, presumably half in earnest and half in jest, that American contributions to ...

Article

Killed in a P-61 crash, 2nd Lt. Loren Kane was buried in a U.S. military cemetery in the Philippines before his body was returned to Bloomington three years later for reburial.

Fallen sons repatriated after World War II

In the years following World War II, the remains of tens of thousands of American war dead retu...

Article

“In appearance the grand master suggests the banker or the prosperous businessman,” it was said of Patrick H. Morrissey. “In height he is about 5 feet 10 inches, weighs perhaps 185 pounds, wears a mustache and hair that is reddish in hue, and possesses a pair of blue eyes that can see things and understand.”

Labor leader product of west side railroad shops

Born and raised on Bloomington’s west side, Patrick Henry Morrissey became a national labor lea...

Article

One of June Rose Colby’s most beloved possessions was a rose jar or vase (to the left of the framed photo on the table). It was her longstanding custom to place a petal in it after some wonderful experience or happy occasion.

Prof. June Rose Colby lived ‘life of the mind’

“Miss Colby was a most unusual person,” noted Helen Marshall in her centennial history of Illin...

Article

Regan stands in the middle of the photo surrounded by women

Reagan’s conservatism forged during years with GE

U.S. President Ronald Reagan was no stranger to Bloomington-Normal, though most of his visits o...

Article

Secor’s Minnie Vautrin, ‘Goddess of Mercy’

Born, raised and educated in Central Illinois, Christian educator Minnie Vautrin was an eyewitn...

Article

This carte de visite portrait dates to 1864.

Sojourner Truth spoke in Bloomington

One hundred and forty years ago this week, on Sept. 18, 1879, the incomparable Sojourner Truth ...

Article

Pawnee Bill Lillie and his wife Mary Emma celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on August 31, 1936 in Taos, NM. The celebration included the governors of Oklahoma and New Mexico, and Pueblo, Navajo and Sioux, as well as the requisite contingent of Pawnee. Two weeks later the Lillies suffered a wreck in their gold-colored anniversary automobile. Mary died on September 27 as a result of her injuries.

Wild West legend ‘Pawnee Bill’ got start in Bloomington

The life and times of Bloomington-born Gordon William “Pawnee Bill” Lillie show us that when it...

Article

During her second visit to the Twin Cities, April 6-7, 1936, famed aviator Amelia Earhart visited the Bloomington Municipal Airport (now the Central Illinois Regional Airport), where she flew on The Pantagraph’s very own airplane, dubbed “Scoop.” Seen here, left to right, are Louis B. Merwin, Earhart, and Louis’ sons, Loring and Davis. At the time, Loring Merwin was president of the newspaper.

‘Aviatrix’ Amelia Earhart twice visitor to Twin Cities

This July will mark the 80th anniversary of Amelia Earhart’s mysterious disappearance in the Ce...

Article

Biographies

1 item

Allin, James

James Allin was born on January 13, 1788 in North Carolina. He was the son of Isaac and Sarah F...

Biography

Blog

205 items

"Gridley High, January 1953 County Hoops Champs"

Here’s Gridley High School Coach Clarence “Merk” Kyger readying his varsity squad for the 1953 ...

Blog Post

2018 History Makers Announced

The McLean County Museum of History announced on Tuesday four recipients of the 2018 History Ma...

Blog Post

4-H Gathering Undated

These patient 4-H members are waiting for something to wrap up before they can enjoy their meal...

Blog Post

4-H Lamb Show June 27, 1951

In late June 1951, the McLean County 4-H market lamb show was held at the Producers Stock Yards...

Blog Post

Aaron Copland at IWU February 1958

Composer Aaron Copland was the featured guest for Illinois Wesleyan University's Seventh A...

Blog Post

American Passion Play Backstage Laughs, 1954

Every spring Delmar D. Darrah’s theatrical retelling of “the greatest story ever told” is broug...

Blog Post

An Old Master returns home ‘Doc’ Bradshaw, July 19, 1962

Kenneth “Doc” Bradshaw, one of the more accomplished pianists to come out of the Twin Cities, r...

Blog Post

An apple (or bushel) a day … Lilly Orchard, October 1950

In the first half of the 20th century Lilly Orchard, located some sixteen miles west of the Twi...

Blog Post

Angelic Coeds, September 27, 1940 Dedication of the Van Leer Chime Tower

Bill Kemp's “Page from Our Past” column in the Pantagraph (linked below) detailed the hist...

Blog Post

Armistice Day 1945 parade Downtown Bloomington

This photograph, taken from the east steps of the McLean County Courthouse (now Museum), offers...

Blog Post

Artist and Author Visit Bloomington May 1948

Artist Bob Hooton (left) and writer Dan Wickenden, both fresh from an extended stay in the Cent...

Blog Post

B-29 Bomber Visits Courthouse Square June 13, 1950

Back during the early years of the Cold War the fuselage of a U.S. Air Force B-29 Superfortress...

Blog Post

BHS Student Lounge May 1948

Bloomington High School students Wanda Rust (right) and Margaret Schlemmer work on murals in th...

Blog Post

BPD’s Rogues Gallery August 1947

Bloomington Police Chief Clyde Hibbens (left) and Officer James Daley examine some of the 1,600...

Blog Post

Be of Good Cheer Livingston’s, Early 1950s

Seen here from the early 1950s is Livingston’s, the gone-but-not-forgotten local department sto...

Blog Post

Beckley-Moots Wedding Saybrook, September 1938

William C. Beckley and Bernadine Cleo Moots of Cropsey ready for their September 3, 1938 weddin...

Blog Post

Beich Bowlers, 1942

Not much is known about this photograph, including the reference to “Merry-Go-Round.” We do kno...

Blog Post

Better Babies Conference May 1929

The Pantagraph and Second Presbyterian Church, Bloomington, sponsored a three-day “Better Babie...

Blog Post

Big Dance in Colfax—100 years ago!

Museum volunteer Amy Miller recently donated a sizable collection of dance cards and other loca...

Blog Post

Bird House Contest, 1930s Anchor Grade School

This wonderful photograph comes from the Museum’s William Brigham Collection. Brigham was the l...

Blog Post

Bloomington Bloomers Fans Field, 1913

For the better part of four decades Bloomington fielded a team in the well-regarded Illinois-In...

Blog Post

Bloomington Centennial 65 Years Ago this Week!

On September 15, 1950, Bloomington kicked off its centennial celebration with a “Queen’s Ball” ...

Blog Post

Bloomington Centennial ‘Young Pioneers’ Parade, September 19, 1950

The City of Bloomington celebrated its centennial over a seven-day extravaganza, September 17-2...

Blog Post

Bloomington High Aegis staff October 1954

Several weeks ago we ran a photograph from a set of 1954 negatives showing the staff of Aegis, ...

Blog Post

Bo Peep Has Found Her Sheep Halloween Parade, Bloomington 1938

A Depression-era tradition in Bloomington was the annual Halloween Mardi Gras parade and street...

Blog Post

Bohemian Bloomington Evans Building, December 1947

In the mid-1940s, the Evans Building earned the nickname “Little Greenwich Village” due to all ...

Blog Post

Book Lover in Seventh Heaven May 1968

Retired schoolteacher Elsa Schilling found a quiet corner of Withers Public Library hoping to f...

Blog Post

Bull in Barbershop Hudson, June 19, 1947

We’ve all heard the expression “bull in a china shop,” but how about one in a barbershop? Herb ...

Blog Post

Bzzzz! June 30, 1938

William Knuth, a laid off boilermaker and hobbyist beekeeper, was called to the Darling Poultry...

Blog Post

Chenoa Airport, 1948

The most recent Sunday Pantagraph “Page from Our Past” installment examined the fascinating his...

Blog Post

Christmas 1953

On December 25, 1953, The Pantagraph ran a series of Christmas Day photographs such as this one...

Blog Post

Christmas Caravan, 1935

During the Great Depression 80 downtown Bloomington merchants staged a “Christmas Caravan” prom...

Blog Post

City Hoosegow September 1938

Old Bloomington City Hall, located at the corner of East and Monroe streets downtown, included ...

Blog Post

Clarke Triplets Turn Eight Downs, August 1949

Mary, Margaret, and Marilyn Clarke of Downs (don’t ask us to identify who’s who!) turned eight ...

Blog Post

Community Players Groundbreaking December 7, 1960

On December 7, 1960, Community Players Theatre broke ground for the playhouse on 201 Robinhood ...

Blog Post

Corn Belt Harvest September 1939

In the 76 years since these photographs were taken the Corn Belt countryside has undergone an a...

Blog Post

Corny Christmas Contest, 1934 Guess the Number of Kernels

Back in December 1934, the Bloomington Association of Commerce (now the McLean County Chamber o...

Blog Post

Courthouse Caroling December 23, 1935

The ninth annual “Community Christmas Carol Sing” was held on the McLean County Courthouse Squa...

Blog Post

Craig Hart Named 2017 History Makers Honoree

Craig Hart was born on January 11, 1934 in Streator, Illinois. He earned his Bachelor’s degree ...

Blog Post

Darlene Bishop, Doll Collector Heyworth, August 1938

Twelve-year-old Darlene Bishop poses with her collection of 225 dolls in August 1938. Darlene, ...

Blog Post

December Sleigh Ride, 1963

These young women appear to be having the time of their lives. Unfortunately, we do not known t...

Blog Post

Dedication of Holton Homes Bloomington’s West Side, July 1954

Several hundred folks sat in the shade of a box elder tree on Sunday, July 11, 1954, for the de...

Blog Post

Don Munson Named 2018 History Maker Honoree

Donald G. Munson was born September 26, 1941, in Gibson City and attended Gibson City schools. ...

Blog Post

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

East Grove Street, Bloomington July 1956

Phillip Hogan (on bike) chats with Marty Weigman is this summer of 1956 scene along East Grove ...

Blog Post

Easter Parade, LeRoy Style, 1937

On Sunday, April 9, 1937, The Pantagraph ran a photo spread on LeRoy ladies getting ready for E...

Blog Post

Elizabeth Paullin Funk Undated

This circa early 1930s portrait of Elizabeth Paullin Funk was taken by Clara Brian, longtime Mc...

Blog Post

Emerson School, Bloomington March 1976

Built in the early 1900s, Emerson School was demolished in 1985. Designed by prominent Blooming...

Blog Post

Excuse me, comin’ through May 1968

On May 22, 1968, workers removed a roof off a gas station being dismantled at the corner of Lee...

Blog Post

Extra! Extra! Read All About it! BHS student newspaper, 1954

The Aegis is Bloomington High School’s longtime student newspaper. Here’s chief photographer Bo...

Blog Post

Extra, extra, read all about it! Pantagraph’s graduation edition, May 1949

Danvers High School seniors are seen here pouring though The Daily Pantagraph’s 56-page graduat...

Blog Post

FDR in Bloomington October 14, 1936

On October 14, 1936 President Franklin Delano Roosevelt campaigned in Bloomington. FDR’s whistl...

Blog Post

Fall Means College Football ISNU ‘Teachers,’ 1907

Back in 1907, the Illinois State Normal University Teachers (the nickname would be changed to “...

Blog Post

Fashion Show Prep, late April 1958 Octavia High School, Colfax

This late April 1958 scene shows Octavia High School student Marcella Brucker at a sewing machi...

Blog Post

Father Ric Schneider Named 2016 History Makers Honoree

Born July 21, 1932 in Louisville, KYSince Father Ric Schneider arrived in Bloomington to become...

Blog Post

Flag Day, 1948

Local Girl Scouts hoist Old Glory at Forrest Park in south Bloomington in preparation for Flag ...

Blog Post

Frankie Finck, Gridley’s ‘strong baby’ August 1949

Margy Finck of Gridley demonstrates how her six-month-old son Frankie was able to balance in he...

Blog Post

Franklin Park’s new evergreens April 1958

In the spring of 1958, the Bloomington-Normal Garden Club planted a series of evergreens at Fra...

Blog Post

George Stewart World War I veteran

This photograph, undated, shows George Stewart, a local (and well-decorated) World War I vetera...

Blog Post

Glen Dotson and ‘Sparky’ Towanda, January 1941

Glen Dotson is seen here in late January 1941 with his new pet pigeon “Sparky.” Glen’s previous...

Blog Post

Gordon Ropp Named 2016 History Makers Honoree

Born April 5, 1933 in Normal, ILIt is impossible to study the history of agriculture and rural ...

Blog Post

Grand Champion Gilt McLean County Fair, Aug. 6, 1958

That’s a proud Walter Gottschalk of Danvers at the 1958 McLean County 4-H Club Fair. He’s posin...

Blog Post

Halloween Party Mystery

The exact date of this photo, let alone the name of the group are unknown. It is c.1918 and the...

Blog Post

Halloween Party, 1939 Holy Trinity Parish Kindergarten, Bloomington

Holy Trinity Catholic Church's afternoon kindergarten class enjoyed candied apples among o...

Blog Post

Happy New Year! Dale Miller’s Orchestra, mid-1930s

Beginning in Roaring Twenties, area ballrooms, dance halls and clubs featured tuxedo-clad bands...

Blog Post

Herman Jack’s Christmas tree December 1952

In April 1950, DeWitt County farmer Herman Jack planted 1,500 evergreen seedlings on sloping, e...

Blog Post

Holiday Shopping Downtown Bloomington, December 1953

Seen here are shoppers out and about downtown Bloomington in mid-December 1953. This location, ...

Blog Post

Homecoming 1949 Bloomington High School

Seen here are two photographs of Bloomington’s 1949 homecoming festivities. The photo on the le...

Blog Post

Hougham’s Halloween Party? Village of McLean, ca. 1890

Not much is known about this photo other than the handwritten caption indicating it was taken a...

Blog Post

I beg to differ … Waterloo v. Bloomers, July 6, 1938

From 1901 to 1939, Bloomington was home to the Bloomers of the Illinois-Indiana-Iowa League. He...

Blog Post

Idle Youth Miller Park, July 1957

These unidentified boys are seen here a few days before Independence Day 1957, hanging out at M...

Blog Post

Illinois Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs Annual Convention, Bloomington 1918

The Illinois Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs held its nineteenth convention in Bloomington ...

Blog Post

Illinois State Normal University Junior-Senior Prom, 1949

Several ISNU coeds show off their gowns for the June 10, 1949 junior-senior prom. Louise Claymo...

Blog Post

Independence Day 1964 Miller Park, Bloomington

For well over a century, Miller Park on Bloomington’s west side has served as home to many the ...

Blog Post

Irving School, Bloomington Eighth Grade Graduates, 1925

Here’s the Irving School class of 1925. In 2016 Irving is still a public school on Bloomington’...

Blog Post

Jack Cruser ‘Ugliest’ Costume Winner, 1968

On Oct. 31, 1968, the Normal Parks and Recreation Department and the Optimist and Rotary clubs ...

Blog Post

Jack Porter Named 2016 History Makers Honoree

Born June 4,1936 in Chicago, Illinois, Jack Porter’s passion for social justice has defined his...

Blog Post

Jeanne and Charles Morris Named 2017 History Makers Honorees

The story of how Jeanne and Charles Morris met “usually gets a smile,” according to Charles. Th...

Blog Post

Jennie Wickizer’s Bakery Downtown Bloomington, undated

In April 1894, Jennie Wickizer purchased the commercial building at the corner of Main and Mulb...

Blog Post

Jesse Smart Named 2017 History Makers Honoree

Jesse Smart was born on April 29, 1939 on a small family farm in Pike County, IL. After graduat...

Blog Post

Jill Hutchison Named 2016 History Makers Honoree

Born: March 8, 1945 in The Bronx, New YorkA Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame inductee and an int...

Blog Post

Jim Ameche and WJBC December 1949

National radio personality Jim Ameche (center) helped WJBC Radio inaugurate its new transmitter...

Blog Post

Judy Stone Named 2017 History Makers Honoree

Judy Stone was born in Columbus, Ohio on July 21, 1932. After growing up in Ohio, Judy received...

Blog Post

Lathrop's Barbershop, 1914

George Lathrop was a Bloomington barber for many years. This February 1914 photograph shows the...

Blog Post

LeRoy Centennial Parade October 19, 1935

A merchant’s parade was one of the highlights of LeRoy’s three-day centennial celebration, Octo...

Blog Post

LeRoy Centennial Queen October 19, 1935

This photo was taken of the LeRoy Centennial parade, held back in 1935. Rose Mae Bishop (seated...

Blog Post

LeRoy Fall Festival September 1963

The 1963 LeRoy Fall festival was held over four days, September 4-7. Billed as “Illinois larges...

Blog Post

LeRoy High’s Ron Crosby Teacher of Year, May 1964

At the end of the 1964 school year, Leroy High School students selected biology teacher and bas...

Blog Post

LeRoy’s CCC Camp August 1934

LeRoy was home to a Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) work camp during the Great Depression. Th...

Blog Post

Lexington Art Show July 1962

Jack Statz and Jann Thompson Anderson served as judges for an art show held in conjunction with...

Blog Post

Lexington Dog Show July 31, 1940

Seen here are 5 of the 30 some entries for the children’s dog show, held July 31, 1940, in Lexi...

Blog Post

Local Guardsmen Head to Chicago June 1938

On June 20, 1938, about 40 members of Bloomington’s 2nd Battalion, 108th Quartermaster Regiment...

Blog Post

Mackinaw River catch, July 1940 Boolman residence, Bloomington

Chester Boolman, 820 W. Washington St., shows his 21-month-old son Melvin a 15-pound catfish he...

Blog Post

McHistory: Bloomington-Normal Under Jim Crow Law

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

Memorial Day 1960 African-American Legionnaires

The Redd-William American Legion Post color guard heads north on East Street in downtown Bloomi...

Blog Post

Memorial Day tradition Poppy Sales, May 1938

The local Veterans of Foreign Wars John H. Kraus post prepares for its 17th annual poppy sale i...

Blog Post

Merlin Kennedy, 2015 McLean County History Maker

The local story of the American Civil Rights Movement cannot be told without a chapter on Merli...

Blog Post

Miller Park Beach July 1941

For decades Miller Park beach was the most popular spots in the Twin Cities to cool off during ...

Blog Post

Miller Park Fishing Season Underway June 1938

Fishing at Miller Park on Bloomington’s west side has been a time-honored local tradition since...

Blog Post

Mobile Home Living, Bloomington Catherine Heineman, January 1953

By 1953, there were at least 10 mobile home parks with a combined 165 “trailers” in the Twin Ci...

Blog Post

Moose Hunters Bag Rabbits January 23, 1947

Members of the Bloomington Loyal Order of the Moose staged a rabbit hunt in south-central Illin...

Blog Post

Mother Road Turns Deadly October 28, 1949

John M. Newman of Pittsfield, IL, was killed on October 28, 1949, when his Pacific Intermountai...

Blog Post

Mount Hope Ladies Aid Moore’s Mill Marker, August 1968

The most famous gristmill in McLean County was the one operated by the Moore family of Mount Ho...

Blog Post

Ms. Stanberry and Queenie July 21, 1938

Gretchen Stanberry, a senior in the school of music at MacMurray Women’s College in Jacksonvill...

Blog Post

Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church Bloomington, June 9, 1940

Founded in October 1865 as South Hill Baptist Church, Mt Pisgah Baptist Church has played an im...

Blog Post

Municipal Workers on Strike May 1968

Bloomington’s public service employees responsible for garbage pickup and cleanup work staged a...

Blog Post

Museum, Prairie Pride Coalition host trip to Albert Cashier musical in Chicago

BLOOMINGTON - The McLean County Museum of History is currently taking reservations for a specia...

Blog Post

My Store, undated Downtown Bloomington

Oscar Mandel and brother-in-law Albert Schwarzman opened this five-story “trade palace,” locate...

Blog Post

Nation’s Best Corn Huskers November 1939

Into the 1940s, corn was picked not by machine but by hand. Local, state, and national corn hus...

Blog Post

New American citizen May 24, 1941

Twenty-six people became American citizens in a naturalization ceremony held May 24, 1941, in t...

Blog Post

New Two-Way Radios Bloomington Fire Department, 1953

The BFD tried out its new two-way radio system in late August 1953. Seen here are Fireman Rober...

Blog Post

New Year’s Eve 1948 In with the new, out with the old …

The Pantagraph ran this staged photograph of Father Time and Baby New Year on the last day of 1...

Blog Post

North Side of Courthouse Square Downtown Bloomington, circa 1956

Here’s a wonderful view of the 100 block of West Jefferson Street, or the north side of the Cou...

Blog Post

October Means ‘Rocktober’ The Defenbaughs Meets Elvis, 1957

Back in the spring of 1957, Bloomington teenagers Nancy Defenbaugh and her older brother Jim we...

Blog Post

On Your Mark . . . Street Sledding, December 31, 1946

Who says there aren’t hills in Central Illinois? These youngsters took advantage of the chilly,...

Blog Post

Ozark Air Lines Touches Down Bloomington Municipal Airport, Nov. 6, 1950

An estimated 200 area residents were on hand at the Municipal Airport (now Central Illinois Reg...

Blog Post

Parking meters perplex motorists Downtown Bloomington, May 1941

Parking meters were first installed in downtown Bloomington in February 1940. By the following ...

Blog Post

Patrol Boys Confab, January 1946 Franklin School, Bloomington

Some 140 patrol boys from nine Bloomington public schools gathered at Franklin School on Januar...

Blog Post

Paul and Sandra Harmon Named 2018 History Maker Honorees

Paul and Sandra Harmon shake their heads when they’re referred to as a “power couple,” but that...

Blog Post

Paving, 400 block North Main Street June 1938

Workmen with local contractor Berenz & Son lay asphalt down the 400 block of North Main Str...

Blog Post

Photo of the Week 19: New Deal Rally, September 1933

In September 1933, during the dark days of the Great Depression, Bloomington hosted a parade an...

Blog Post

Photo of the Week, 108: Beekeeping During Wartime Sugar Shortage

In late February / early March 1942, Cropsey area farmer Edward Adams discussed the benefits of...

Blog Post

Photo of the Week, 114: Downtown Bloomington, 1931

Seen here is the 100 block of N. Madison St. in 1931. The crowd gathered outside the four-story...

Blog Post

Photo of the Week, 117: ISSCS Graduates, 1958

Normal was the longtime home to the state-run orphanage known as the Illinois Soldiers’ and Sai...

Blog Post

Photo of the Week, 120: Carl Loeseke’s Homing Pigeons, 1938

Seen here is Bloomington restaurateur Carl J. Loeseke tending to many of his homing pigeons at ...

Blog Post

Photo of the Week, 124: ‘Swing Time’ at Victory Hall October 1935

Opened in 1919 and located at 904 Hovey Ave. in Normal, Victory Hall was a safe place for boys ...

Blog Post

Photo of the Week, 126: ‘Fab Four’ in Bloomington, 1950

The Beatles didn’t arrive in the U.S. until February 1964, but some 14 years earlier Bloomingto...

Blog Post

Photo of the Week, 127: Death in Central Illinois, 1948

On Wednesday, July 14, 1948, 80-year-old Henry David Boyer was found dead in his room in an aba...

Blog Post

Photo of the Week, 129: Reserve Champions Illinois State Fair, August 17, 1949

The Illinois State Fair gets underway today in Springfield and runs through Sunday, August 23. ...

Blog Post

Photo of the Week, 130: Dogs of War, 1946 Bella and Her Two Surprises

U.S. Army veteran Dwight Pierceall of Normal received quite a shock on June 6, 1946, when he op...

Blog Post

Photo of the Week, 18: 1,000 License Plates Contributed in WW II Drive

During the Second World War, communities such as Bloomington scrounged for scrap metal to boost...

Blog Post

Photo of the Week, 1: Bowling Association Tournament

In late January 1963, Bloomington-Normal hosted the 34th annual Illinois Women's Bowling A...

Blog Post

Photo of the Week, 21: Kadgihn’s, downtown Bloomington, 1921

For about a decade, from the mid-1910s to the mid-1920s, Herman Kadgihn ran a newsstand and cig...

Blog Post

Photo of the Week, 22: A Little Off the Top

Not much is known of this curious scene other than the fact that the chimpanzee is from the Mil...

Blog Post

Photo of the Week, 23: World War II Drinking Fountain Flows Once More!

On October 19, 1948, the local Pearl Harbor chapter of the American War Mothers dedicated a dri...

Blog Post

Photo of the Week, 24: Seven ball in the corner pocket . . .

Students at the Illinois Soldiers' and Sailors' Children's School (ISSCS) play p...

Blog Post

Photo of the Week, 25: Et tu, Brute? “Julius Caesar” at the Consistory, 1931

Long before the 1978 inaugural season of what would become the Illinois Shakespeare Festival (h...

Blog Post

Photo of the Week, 26: On Your Mark, Get Set, Go!

Olympic Speedster Jesse Owens Visits Bloomington Famed Olympian Jesse Owens visited Bloomington...

Blog Post

Photo of the Week, 27: Shhhhh!

Many a “seasoned" citizen well remembers Withers Library, which stood at the northeast cor...

Blog Post

Photo of the Week, 28: Waaaaaa!

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

Blog Post

Photo of the Week, 2: Don Munson & LaJean, 1968

I stumbled across this photograph while perusing a collection of recently donated photographs. ...

Blog Post

Photo of the Week, 30: Gertrude Fifer and Grandson Joe Bohrer

Unitarian Church, Downtown Bloomington Easter Day 1932, Seen here are Gertrude Lewis Fifer and ...

Blog Post

Photo of the Week, 32: Are you ready for some football?

Pictured here is the 1915 University High School football team. The “U Men" (the school n...

Blog Post

Photo of the Week, 36: "Give us your poor, your tired, your huddled masses longing to be free..."

On Saturday, May 25, 1940 in Bloomington, a group of 20 immigrants became U.S. citizens after a...

Blog Post

Photo of the Week, 41: We’re Number One!

Museum to Sell Replica Redbird Cap from 1969 Championship Season On June 6, 1969, Illinois St...

Blog Post

Photo of the Week, 53: Bloomington-Normal Branch of the NAACP, 1944

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the nation's forem...

Blog Post

Photo of the Week, 54: Ike Sander’s “Short Order House,” ca. 1903-1911

Born in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1878, Isaac Joshua Beasley Sanders came to Bloomington someti...

Blog Post

Photo of the Week, 57: Dedication of the Normal Post Office, 1936

On March 1, 1936, several hundred area residents gathered for the dedication of the Normal Post...

Blog Post

Photo of the Week, 5: Beich Employees Packing Whiz Bars

This undated photograph shows Paul F. Beich Candy Co. employees packing Whiz Bars, a marshmallo...

Blog Post

Photo of the Week, 64: Redbirds Crowned National Champs in 1969

Get Your Replica Cap Today! Illinois State University's baseball team captured the NCAA C...

Blog Post

Photo of the Week, 6: Dynamite Stump Removal

400 pounds of dynamite subdue cottonwood, hackberry stumps. These two photographs appeared in t...

Blog Post

Photo of the Week, 71: Grim Reapers Pay Respects to Fallen Comrade

On June 16, 1970, about 50 members of the Grim Reapers Motorcycle Club led a funeral procession...

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

Photo of the Week, 75: Amen and Let's Eat!

Established in 1864/1865, the Illinois' Soldiers' Orphans' Home (later renamed I...

Blog Post

Photo of the Week, 82: 'Starr' Attraction at Normal Chamber Banquet, 1969

Famed Green Bay Packers quarterback Bart Starr was the keynote speaker at the March 26, 1969 No...

Blog Post

Photo of the Week, 83: Swiped Bell Returned to Redbird Roost, September 20, 1967

Back in the 1960s when Illinois State University and Illinois Wesleyan University still played ...

Blog Post

Photo of the Week, 84: 'Bloody 66' claims 4 victims in early February 1939

On Friday, February 3, 1939, four area men were killed in a late evening automobile accident on...

Blog Post

Photo of the Week, 8: Ike Sanders "Up, Up and Away"

This week's photo comes from the Museum's Bloomington-Normal Black History Project Co...

Blog Post

Photo of the Week, 94: Thanksgiving at ISSCS, 1962

For more than a century, the Town of Normal was home to a state-run orphanage: the Illinois Sol...

Blog Post

Photo of the Week, 96: The Most Popular Guy in the Room

On December 23, 1944, more than 600 grade school children attended the Town of Normal's th...

Blog Post

Photo of the Week, 99: Calling All Cars! Normal Police Department, 1938

Seen here is Normal Police Chief James Clarence Land in mid-January 1938 with the department�...

Blog Post

Photo of the Week: Dolls On Parade O’Neil Park, July 1939

The once-annual O’Neil Park doll parade on Bloomington’s west side prepares to get underway, Fr...

Blog Post

Photo of the Week: ISSCS Graduates, 1958

Normal was the longtime home to the state-run orphanage known as the Illinois Soldiers’ and Sai...

Blog Post

Photo of the week, 121: Miller Park Fishing Season Underway -- June 1938

Did you know today, June 18, is National Go Fishing Day? Fishing at Miller Park on Bloomington...

Blog Post

Play Ball! Cooksville, 1909

McLean County’s smaller communities, including the Village of Cooksville, once fielded competit...

Blog Post

Pointer and Setter Club Field Trials, April 1946

That’s “Jake,” a pointer puppy owned by “bird dog man” G.S. Bryant of Springfield and handled h...

Blog Post

Pothole Season Laesch Dairy Truck, January 1965

Winter is hard on Twin City streets, with local residents always on the lookout for kidney-jarr...

Blog Post

Prairie Daze Hudson, July 12, 1980

Acacia fraternity members from Illinois Wesleyan University compete in the outhouse race at Hud...

Blog Post

Private Joe’ Fifer Laid to Rest August 8, 1938

Seen here are pallbearers bringing the casket of Joseph “Private Joe” Fifer into the old downto...

Blog Post

Put Up Your Dukes Small Fry Boxers, March 1958

Billy Kletz (left) and Jim Heafer get ready for the upcoming Small Fry Boxing Championship at t...

Blog Post

Ready, Aim, Fire! BPD Firing Range, May 1936

Seen here are four members of the Bloomington Police Department taking target practice with the...

Blog Post

Readying for college Fall of 1949

Bill and Edmunds Rolley enjoy an apparently carefree day in the Twin Cities before heading off ...

Blog Post

Red Cross knitters July 1940

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

Blog Post

Red, White, and Kaboom! Independence Day 1941

Nine-year-old Tommy Roberts of Bloomington stocks up on fireworks for the July 4, 1941 festivit...

Blog Post

Redd-Williams Legion Post January 1942

For much of the 20th century the Twin Cities had segregated American Legion posts. Seen here ar...

Blog Post

Redd-Williams Legion Post McBarnes Building, January 1942

Seen here are Redd-Williams American Legion Post #163 members at the McBarnes Memorial Building...

Blog Post

Remember the Fallen

McLean County has long honored its war dead. In 1869, local officials saw to the erection in th...

Blog Post

Reserve Champions Illinois State Fair, August 17, 1949

McLean County 4-H youth have an enviable record when it comes to Illinois State Fair showings. ...

Blog Post

Rockets, mid-1940s Twin-City Recreation Center

The Rockets were an informal team connected to the Twin-City Recreation Center, 318 S. Main St....

Blog Post

Roller-Skating messengers State Farm Insurance, summer 1940

Fayne Hoobler (left, on skates) delivers mail to Dorothy Thompson on the sixth floor the State ...

Blog Post

Santa No Replacement for Mama Downtown Bloomington, December 4, 1948

Santa arrived by train to Bloomington on December 4, 1948, and spent much of the day greeting c...

Blog Post

Santa at the Courthouse Square Downtown Bloomington, 1948

On December 4, 1948, Santa Claus arrived in Bloomington via the Gulf, Mobile & Ohio Railroa...

Blog Post

Soap Box Derby Saybrook, July 14, 1937

That’s Bob Butler on the white pony towing Eugene Stauffer, third-place soap box derby finisher...

Blog Post

Spooktacular 1957 Jefferson School, Bloomington

The Jefferson School PTA held an all-family Halloween party on October 28, 1957. Seen here are ...

Blog Post

Springtime in “BloNo’ Iris Walk, 1939

Although you wouldn’t know it from this past weekend’s weather, the end of May and the beginnin...

Blog Post

Susan Emrath Computer Pioneer, 1968

In early November 1968, The Pantagraph profiled Susan Emrath, a recent Illinois State Universit...

Blog Post

Television comes to Danvers June 1949

Who remembers television coming to their home? In June 1949, The Pantagraph reported on the arr...

Blog Post

The Great Levant, February 1950 Pianist performs in Bloomington

Oscar Levant (right), the famed American pianist, composer, and actor, performed with the Bloom...

Blog Post

The Iceman Cometh … but for how long? June 1957

Once a common sight in windows throughout the Twin Cities and beyond, ice carts were becoming a...

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

Tot Tries Tiny Tractor August 1947

Three-year-old Janet Schultze gets comfortable on her father Floyd Schultze’s two-cylinder, nin...

Blog Post

Toy, toys, and more toys Christmastime 1953

This week we’ve posted several photographs from a set showing downtown Bloomington holiday shop...

Blog Post

Twin Cities Bowler Peggy Schultz February 1942

This photograph comes from the Museum’s expansive Pantagraph Negatives Collection. Unfortunatel...

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

Two Pieces of World War II Accessioned into the Museum's Library and Archives

In the last week, the Museum has accessioned two unique pieces of World War II history: a P.O.W...

Blog Post

We All Scream for Ice Cream

How long exactly have people been screaming for ice cream? No one really knows for sure; but, I...

Blog Post

When Paperboys Were … Boys Pantagraph Carriers, May 1929

These lively lads were earning a life’s worth of lessons as Pantagraph paperboys back in the sp...

Blog Post

Winter Wonderland Miller Park Ice Skating, 1958

Ice skating was once popular at Miller Park on Bloomington’s west side. Fifty-seven years ago, ...

Blog Post

Woops! Roller-skating messenger State Farm Insurance, summer 1940

More than a week ago we posted a photograph from this set. Here’s another one. At the time, Sta...

Blog Post

World War II Home Front Gas Rationing, July 1943

Ted Colteaux hands over his gasoline ration book to Lee Harris of Harris Super Service Station,...

Blog Post

World War II Scrap Drive Colfax, June 1943

In the early summer of 1943, some forty Colfax area residents, mostly farmers, gathered twenty ...

Blog Post

‘Brick’ Young, March 1936 Pantagraph Sports Editor and Official

Normal resident Doug Rosenbaum served in the officiating crew as field judge for last weekend’s...

Blog Post

‘Lucky Lindy’ Bails Out November 1926

On the evening of November 3, 1926, Charles Lindbergh jumped out of his U.S. airmail biplane so...

Blog Post

‘Private Joe’ Fifer Memorial Day 1934

The gentlemen in the center is Joseph “Private Joe” Fifer of Bloomington, who served as Illinoi...

Blog Post

Finding Aids

359 items

A Touch of Glass

Terry Garbe established “A Touch of Glass” in 1974 in Bloomington. He moved the business to Nor...

Finding Aid

Abraham, Paul J. Collection

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

Finding Aid

Aldrich, Frank W.

While Frank Aldrich was a banker by trade, he was remembered by many, locally and international...

Finding Aid

Almon Morrow

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

Finding Aid

Annette, Mme

Perhaps the best local newspaper reporter at the turn of the century wrote for the Bulletin and...

Finding Aid

Armstrong, Bea

Born in Hudson to William Campbell and Alma Belle Cope Blagg, Beatrice “Bea” Armstrong (1915-19...

Finding Aid

Augsperger, LaRue

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

Finding Aid

Auth Family

The Auth family opened a grocery in Bloomington around 1931 and operated it for many years at 1...

Finding Aid

Baas, Bea Diaries

Berneice Emma “Bea” Baas began a career at State Farm Insurance in 1952 as a stock clerk in the...

Finding Aid

Bach, William

William R. Bach, son of William and Sophia (Koehler) Bach, was born December 10, 1871 in Bloomi...

Finding Aid

Bagosy, John Jr.

John Bagosy, Jr (1949-2016) was born in Bloomington, IL. He served from 1966 to 1972 in the U.S...

Finding Aid

Baldini, John

The parents of John Baldini emigrated from Italy to the United States during the major influx o...

Finding Aid

Barbara Findley Stuart/McLean County Board Collection

...

Finding Aid

Barth, Pat

Pat Barth donated this collection which contains materials from her early school days and other...

Finding Aid

Bartman, Fannie Mae

Fannie Mae Bartman was born in 1910 on a farm near New Holland, IL, to Koert and Sunkea Janssen...

Finding Aid

Barton House Archaeology and Family History

Milton Barton worked for Jesse Fell (founder and developer of Normal) and reportedly planted ma...

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

Behr, Lincoln A. Theater Program

Lincoln A. Behr was born in Bloomington June 18, 1896. Behr enjoyed going to the theater as a ...

Finding Aid

Beich Collection

Born in Wehlau, East Prussia in 1864, Paul Frank Beich received his early education at Culm whe...

Finding Aid

Benjamin Farm Collection

This collection of farm management materials is from Kenneth and Paul Benjamin who farmed in Ol...

Finding Aid

Bennett, James W.

James W. Bennett was born in 1942 and lived in Canton, Monticello, and Bloomington, Illinois as...

Finding Aid

Bent, Horatio C.

Horatio C. Bent was born June 24, 1881 to Horatio G. and Adah Crist Bent. Bent Elementary schoo...

Finding Aid

Bieber Family / General Telephone Company

The Schwiemann family is traced from 1878 to Charles Schwiemann’s death in 1945, and is linked ...

Finding Aid

Biederman Correspondence

Originally from Altenberg, Saxony, Germany, (Christian) Philipp Biederman (18 Jan 1814- Apr 189...

Finding Aid

Blair Family WWII Letters

This collection primarily consists of letters written by Blair family members and friends of th...

Finding Aid

Blan Collection

Born in Kentucky, William R. “Russ” Blan (1918-1977), Blan worked 22 years in warehouse divisio...

Finding Aid

Bloomington Photographers

This brief collection identifies the early photographers of Bloomington and McLean County begin...

Finding Aid

Bloomington, Illinois Aviation 1920, 1930, 1940

Aviation buff Marion McClure donated these materials which he used in compiling a 1998 book ent...

Finding Aid

Bogart, Ron and Doris (Stevenson Items)

The items in this collection were presented by Ron and Doris Bogart to the McLean County Histor...

Finding Aid

Boysen-Presit, Gail

Gail Boysen-Presit and her family moved from Rochester, Minnesota, to Bloomington, Illinois, wh...

Finding Aid

Bracken Family

William Kerrick Bracken (1865-1947) was a Bloomington lawyer and Lincoln historian. At his deat...

Finding Aid

Breen, Rev. Frank L.

Rev. Frank L. Breen (1886-1967) was a prominent local Protestant minister in Bloomington. He w...

Finding Aid

Brigham, William B.

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

Finding Aid

Brown, Fred S.

The Brown family lived near Yuton Station, in section 14 of Dry Grove Township. S.H. Brown was ...

Finding Aid

Brown, George W.

The George W. Brown collection is a compilation of personal documents of the Brown family and t...

Finding Aid

Brown, James Proctor

James Proctor Brown was born in 1911 in Morristown, Hamblen County, TN, and died in Bloomington...

Finding Aid

Building a Home 505 Bowles

The house at 505 Bowles, Normal, IL was built from 1951 to 1953 by Raymond W. and Evelyn Paulin...

Finding Aid

Burleigh, Cecil

Cecil Burleigh was born April 17, 1885 in Wyoming, New York. The family moved to Omaha, Nebrask...

Finding Aid

Butler, Edward

Edward C Butler was born on January 1, 1867, the son of Preston and Elizabeth Cavanaugh Butler,...

Finding Aid

Butler, Harry Collection

Harry Butler (1868-1931) lived his life in Bloomington. He attended Bloomington schools then op...

Finding Aid

Calendar Collection

This collection includes calendars from 1888 to present, most with connections to McLean County...

Finding Aid

Campbell Holton & Co.

Over his long life, Campbell Holton witnessed monumental changes in his chosen profession — the...

Finding Aid

Capen Insurance / Capen Family

The Capen family emigrated from Dorchester, Dorset, England in 1630 and settled in New England....

Finding Aid

Carius, Larry

Washington, IL, native, Larry Carius worked for the McLean County Health Department (MCHD) for ...

Finding Aid

Carlock, W. B.

William B. Carlock was a prominent Bloomington attorney, member of the Free Masons and member o...

Finding Aid

Carlock/Denman/Irvin/Porter

The Carlock/Denman/Irvin/Porter Collection contains chiefly personal correspondence, but also s...

Finding Aid

Carlton Collection

Box 1 includes items from family members including newspaper articles, a Civil War muster roll,...

Finding Aid

Carpenter, Ruth

Ruth Talbott was born on August 9, 1909 in the small community of Potomac, Illinois. She was th...

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

Centenarians

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

Finding Aid

Charles (“Old Hoss”) Radbourn

Charles (“Old Hoss”) Radbourn was born in Rochester N.Y. December 11, 1854. In 1855, the Radbou...

Finding Aid

Chesebrough, David B.

David B. Chesebrough was born March 14, 1932 and died April 29, 2004. Chesebrough was a pastor...

Finding Aid

Childers, James Railroad

James H. Childers (1903-65) was born in Tennessee and according to the census achieved a fourth...

Finding Aid

Civil War Era Correspondence

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

Finding Aid

Collins, Doug

Doug Collins was born on July 28, 1951 in Christopher, IL and grew up in Benton, IL. He went on...

Finding Aid

Cotner, Ronald E.

Ronald E. Cotner (1929-2009) was born and raised in Bloomington, graduating from Bloomington Hi...

Finding Aid

Craig Family

This collection covers day-to-day events in Warren F. Craig’s life starting in the late 1930s t...

Finding Aid

Crissey, A Elwell

Arthur “Elwell” Crissey, sometimes called “Cris,” was born February 1, 1899, in Windsor, Missou...

Finding Aid

Crothers, Rachel

Rachel Crothers (1870/78 - 1958) was born in Bloomington to Drs. Eli Kirk Crothers and Marie Lo...

Finding Aid

Cumpston, Robert

Robert D. “Bob” Cumpston (1930-2018) was born, lived and died on his family’s farm near Colfax,...

Finding Aid

Custer, Milo

Milo Custer was born in 1879 to Samuel and Lucinda Parker Custer. Before settling in Bloomingto...

Finding Aid

Dallinger-Rayfield Commitment Ceremony

The collection includes a wedding planner book complete with notes, orders and receipts, etc. p...

Finding Aid

David Davis Mansion

This collection includes the materials relating to the David Davis Mansion State Historic Site,...

Finding Aid

Davis Correspondence

This collection contains photocopies of correspondence from / to David and Sarah Davis from / t...

Finding Aid

Davis, David

This collection includes personal correspondence between Sarah & husband David, between oth...

Finding Aid

DeMotte

Born in Illinois on 17 July 1838, Harvey C. DeMotte eventually became a prominent Bloomington r...

Finding Aid

Delbridge, Mary E.

The Mary E. Delbridge Collection is organized into ten folders by date and subject with two scr...

Finding Aid

Detloff

School documents, records, and textbooks belonging to Elmer Detloff...

Finding Aid

Diaries Collection

Diaries from 1848-1960, information on diarists, and supporting documents....

Finding Aid

Dietrich, George

George Dietrich (1816-1900) was born in Bevidere, New Jersey, to Pennsylvania parents of German...

Finding Aid

Dietrich, Julius

Julius Dietrich was a well-liked, prominent resident of Bloomington for almost two decades. He ...

Finding Aid

Dillingham

The Dillingham collection consists both of public and private materials from a multi-generation...

Finding Aid

Dooley-Fairchild

The Dooley genealogy of William M. and Minerva Morris Dooley and their descendants from 1869 th...

Finding Aid

Dossett, David C.

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

Finding Aid

Douglas-Jones Family

Luella Douglas (1887-1979) was born in Hamilton County, Illinois. She married Jesse Douglas in ...

Finding Aid

Douglass, Emmett

Emmett Douglass was a country school teacher in Lexington around 1900 who later farmed. His wi...

Finding Aid

Dowell, Joe

Joseph Harry Dowell (1940-2016) was born January 23, 1940 in Bloomington, Indiana. Joe began w...

Finding Aid

Draft Horses Collection

The history of Norman horses in Normal is closely linked to the Dillon family, first known as E...

Finding Aid

Duff Family

The collection deals almost exclusively with the family of Peter C. and Fannie Duff (1865-?), w...

Finding Aid

Dunn, Betty Hinckle

Born in Peoria in 1909, Elizabeth “Betty” Hinckle grew up in Peoria and later in Bloomington. H...

Finding Aid

Dunn, Mark Collection

The collection includes research manuscripts, genealogical research, newspaper articles, and co...

Finding Aid

Dunn, Richard T.

Richard Thomas Dunn was born on August 21, 1918 in Normal, IL, to Richard Francis Dunn and Clar...

Finding Aid

Edward Miller Farm

(Gustave) Edward Miller was born at Danvers in 1886. He wed Lauraline Neal (1900-1977) in 1918 ...

Finding Aid

Ela, George and Frances

This collection contains photocopied letters (and digital documents of transcriptions) from Fra...

Finding Aid

Engle Family Papers

The Engle Family Papers Collection consists of 2 boxes. It contains mostly school notebooks com...

Finding Aid

Ensenberger Furniture Store

The Ensenberger Furniture Store Collection sheds light on the activities of this Bloomington co...

Finding Aid

Ensign, Preston Poster

Preston Ensign, 1912 - 2006, graduated from University High School and Illinois State Normal Un...

Finding Aid

Euleo Puppets

Sisters Eunice Speer and Leona S. Pitzer organized a puppet theatre in the late 1960s and named...

Finding Aid

Evans, J. Harwood

John Harwood Evans (1899-1976) was born in McLean County and grew up in Bloomington. Born of W...

Finding Aid

Evans, Joseph Orme

Joseph Orme Evans (December 22, 1923-March 5, 2007) was a native of Bloomington, Illinois. He ...

Finding Aid

Ewing Family Correspondence

This collection centers around the correspondence of the family of Albert Gallatin Ewing. Along...

Finding Aid

Ewing, N. P. Family Farm Collection

The Ewing family, headed by Nathaniel Porter Ewing (4 Oct 1812 – 24 Jun 1876) and Nancy Elmira ...

Finding Aid

Ewing, Thomas

Thomas Ewing was born in Lincoln, Illinois on September 19, 1935, the son of Samuel and Harriet...

Finding Aid

Ezra M. Prince

Ezra Prince, a prolific local historian, was born in Maine in 1831. He attended Harvard Univers...

Finding Aid

F.M. Hall

Francis Micajah (F.M.) Hall, later known as “Cage” Hall, was born in Todd Couty, KY, on March 2...

Finding Aid

Farrell Family

Ezra Thomas Farrell (1884-1962) and Sylvia G. Walston Farrell (1882-1964) farmed in Hudson, unt...

Finding Aid

Fell Collection

The Fell Collection includes information about the lives of brothers Jesse W. Fell, Kersey Fell...

Finding Aid

Fell Family

Jesse W. Fell was a Bloomington, IL businessman and landowner. He is also known for founding of...

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

Fifer-Bohrer Papers

Joseph Fifer was born near Staunton, Virginia, in 1840, and moved with his parents to Danvers, ...

Finding Aid

Finley, Ada Collection

Ada was born in Hudson, Illinois, to George and Josie Lentz on July 19, 1898. She married Steph...

Finding Aid

First National Bank of Normal

John W. Aldrich founded and became the first president of the First National Bank of Normal in ...

Finding Aid

Fleming Family

The Birney-Fleming family, of Scotch-Irish extraction, emigrated from Ulster, Ireland, to Harri...

Finding Aid

Floyd, Arthur Softball Collection

Arthur Floyd (1900-1988) was an insurance agent for the Industrial Casualty Co. In private life...

Finding Aid

Folsom, Elizabeth Irons

Elizabeth Irons Folsom was born in Peoria, Illinois, in 1876. She moved to Bloomington as a yo...

Finding Aid

Fraker-Lincoln

Guy Fraker, born in St. Joesph, Missouri, and raised in the New York suburbs, practiced law in ...

Finding Aid

Frazier-McCulley

Ron Frazier and Tom McCulley were one of the early openly gay couples in Bloomington. Together ...

Finding Aid

Freed, Bill & Ruth (Klein)

This collection includes photos, scrapbooks, newspaper clippings, land deeds and abstracts of t...

Finding Aid

Frink, Dwight E.

Dwight E. Frink was born in Bloomington February 16, 1874. He was educated in the ward schools...

Finding Aid

Fuller Family Collection

The Collection includes photos and records of the Fuller family, including those relating to Wi...

Finding Aid

Fuller, Margaret Club

The Margaret Fuller Club met for the first time on January 30, 1893, at the home of Emma Brown ...

Finding Aid

Funk, George Washington

George W. Funk was the firstborn son of the Hon. Isaac Funk, Sr. and Cassandra Sharp, founders ...

Finding Aid

Garst, Elmer Record Book

A grocer and amateur historian from Stanford, Elmer Garst compiled information about local birt...

Finding Aid

Gaunt, John

This collection contains papers relating to the details of a Dry Goods business partnership in ...

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

Gentes

Alfred and Lena Gentes were born in Illinois, both of German immigrants. Alfred was born around...

Finding Aid

George Weldon Funk Collection

George Weldon Funk was born to a prominent family in McLean, Illinois on October 30, 1895. His ...

Finding Aid

Getz, Lois

Lois Ann Getz (nee Zimmerman) was born on May 21, 1929 in Carlock, Illinois. Her parents were ...

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

Goben Family

Kim Goben was born on November 15, 1961 to James and Wini Goben. She attended Bloomington High ...

Finding Aid

Goelzer Karr

This collection includes newspaper articles, a few business and professional correspondences, h...

Finding Aid

Goforth

Jonathan (J. C.) Goforth moved his family from Canton, Illinois to Bloomington, Illinois in 190...

Finding Aid

Gose, Carol Mishler Scrapbooks

Carol Mishler Gose collected this material and wrote: “I remember being in sixth grade in the ...

Finding Aid

Gossard, Steve Railroad

Born in Galesburg in 1949, Steve Gossard moved to Normal to study at Illinois State University ...

Finding Aid

Goudy, Frederic W.

Frederic W. Goudy was born in Bloomington in 1865. Goudy spent his early years in Bloomington w...

Finding Aid

Graves, Harley

Harvey Graves was born to Sam S. and Clara May Myers Graves in Randolph in 1911. He wed Lottie ...

Finding Aid

Gravestone Photographs

This photograph collection consists of four box books of gravestone photographs and associated ...

Finding Aid

Gray, Vern

Vern Gray (December 19, 1897- June 28, 1972) was a former curator of the McLean County Historic...

Finding Aid

Gregor, Harold Collection

The son of Scottish immigrants, Harold Gregor was born in Detroit, MI, and earned his PhD from ...

Finding Aid

Hamilton, Violet

Hamilton was an active citizen of Normal and McLean County, where she wrote a Centennial Pagean...

Finding Aid

Hamm, Ruth Bitting

The Ruth Bitting Hamm collection contains several folders in four boxes. The items included ar...

Finding Aid

Harrison, Arlene G Elliott

Arlene Genevieve Elliott was born July 8, 1919 to William and Ida E. (Ward) Elliott. She had tw...

Finding Aid

Hart, James

Born in Lawndale, Illinois, in 1882, James “Jimmie” Michael Hart was initially reared in Atlant...

Finding Aid

Hartzold Family

Henry Hartzold was born about 1862 in Lancaster, PA. He moved to McLean County in 1894, becomin...

Finding Aid

Harvey Family

This small collection along with a large collection of photographs was found in the attic of a ...

Finding Aid

Hasenwinkle, Ralph

Ralph Waldo Emerson Hasenwinkle was in the Spanish American War, Philippines, 1898-1899. He gra...

Finding Aid

Haxel Railroading

Delmar Haxel, born in Bloomington in 1920, worked for the Illinois Central Gulf Railroad for th...

Finding Aid

Hay Family Reunion

The first reunion of the descendants of Jacob Hay (1818-1882) and Sarah Philpps Hay (1818-1897)...

Finding Aid

Hayden Murray

Born in 1906, Charlotte Murray wed Bloomington-born Thomas Hayden in 1933, after he had lost hi...

Finding Aid

Helen Larkin Matchbook

Helen Joann Feger Larkin (1929-2011) graduated from Trinity High School in Bloomington and then...

Finding Aid

Helen Littleton Burns Postcard Collection

This remarkable collection is comprised of postcards sent to and collected by Helen Littleton B...

Finding Aid

Helm, Grover C. (National Bank of Bloomington)

This collection consists of a series of scrapbooks put together by Grover C. Helm, who wrote mo...

Finding Aid

Hibarger, Bessie Family

This collection includes:Over 600 letters, mostly personal and handwritten among family members...

Finding Aid

Higgins-Jung-Kleinau Co

Hamer J. Higgins (1840-1902) began apprenticing as a marble cutter at Haldeman’s Marble Works o...

Finding Aid

Hilton and Schwoerer Farms

Guy Hilton bought a 160-acre tract next to his father’s farm in Section 11 of Dry Grove Townshi...

Finding Aid

Historic American Buildings Survey Collection of Edgar Lundeen

Edgar Lundeen (1898 – 1986) was an architect who practiced in Bloomington IL throughout his car...

Finding Aid

Historical Markers

Historical markers such as plaques, cornerstones, and others have been used since at least the ...

Finding Aid

Hitch, Fred

Frederick A. Hitch (1882-1947) resided in Bloomington his entire life. After graduating from Il...

Finding Aid

Hodge Fuller Collection

Rachel Hodge Fuller (1904 – 1987) was the daughter of E.N. and Naomia Correa Hodge. Rachel Hodg...

Finding Aid

Hodge-Read Family

Most of this collection is correspondence between the Hodges (1830-1880), land and estate docum...

Finding Aid

Holder, John

The Holder collection consists primarily of materials from John’s time of service in the U.S. N...

Finding Aid

Hoppe, Jim

Jim Hoppe is an avid lover of history and McLean County. He has written manuscripts about vario...

Finding Aid

Hubbard Family

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

Finding Aid

Hubbard Roycrofters Book

Elbert Green Hubbard (June 19, 1856 – May 7, 1915) was an American writer, publisher, artist, a...

Finding Aid

Humphrey

This collection contains funeral books for various members of the Humphrey family....

Finding Aid

Irvin Bros

Finding Aid

Irvin, Clarence E.

Clarence Edgar Irvin owned and operated several Bloomington theaters. He was the founder of Ir...

Finding Aid

Irvin, Lawrence

Lawrence E. Irvin, son of Patrick and Mary Irvin, was born May 27, 1911 at Lake Bloomington, Il...

Finding Aid

Iseminger Family

The collection includes newspaper articles, receipts, prescriptions, recipes, bank checks, tax ...

Finding Aid

Ives, Elizabeth Buffie

Born in Bloomington in 1897, Elizabeth Stevenson “Buffie” Ives was the first of two children bo...

Finding Aid

Jacobs Ralph

Ralph H. Jacobs was born in Elliott, IL in 1918. He attended Saybrook High School, graduating i...

Finding Aid

James S. Ewing Speeches

James S. Ewing (1835- 1918) was born in what is today Woodford County. He came to Bloomington a...

Finding Aid

Jennie Rayburn Diaries

The collection consists primarily of Jennie’s diaries covering the years of her widowhood (1925...

Finding Aid

John Howard Burnham Collection

Captain J.H. Burnham came to McLean County in 1858 as a student at the State Normal University....

Finding Aid

Jones – White Family Collection

This small collection contains the records of the Jones & White family reunions and some hi...

Finding Aid

Jones, Ethel Pearle Smith

This collection contains the prose, poetry and plays written by Ethel Pearle Smith Jones, and s...

Finding Aid

Judd-Lucas Family

The Judd Family lived in Colfax, Illinois during the 20th century. The Judd and Lucas families ...

Finding Aid

Jung Family

Jacob Phillip Jung was born in Nauvoo, Illinois, the son of Christian and Elizabeth Brandenburg...

Finding Aid

Kansas Kickapoo

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

Finding Aid

Kelley, George R.

The letters of George R. Kelley relate to the life and times of a McLean County serviceman duri...

Finding Aid

Kemp, Bill

William F. “Bill” Kemp has served as Librarian/Archivist for the McLean County Museum of Histor...

Finding Aid

Kennedy, Merlin

The collection includes the personal papers of Mr. Kennedy, and his wife Beulah (1923-2002). T...

Finding Aid

Kirk, Margaret

Margaret (Peg) Kirk was a beloved English teacher and speech coach at Normal Community High Sch...

Finding Aid

Kirkpatrick Collection

Jonathon H. Kirkpatrick was born in North Liberty, Ohio in 1844. He moved to Bloomington with ...

Finding Aid

Klein, Lois Welsh School Textbooks

This is a collection of Lois Welsh’s (now Klein) books from a one room school in Gridley Townsh...

Finding Aid

Klemm, C.W. Family

The C. W. Klemm collection contains a variety of genealogical information about the Klemm, Howa...

Finding Aid

Klemm’s Department Store

C. W. Klemm came to Bloomington in 1873 after having spent five years in Springfield, IL in the...

Finding Aid

Knight, Robert N.

Robert N. Knight, also known as “Mr. Junior High School,” was a much loved and admired prin-cip...

Finding Aid

Koos Family

This collection contains financial, medical, and military information, correspondence, and scra...

Finding Aid

Koos, Greg Collection

The Greg Koos collection contains published and unpublished works by Greg Koos, former executiv...

Finding Aid

Kron, A.B. Postal

Born in Des Moines, IA, Albin B. Kron (1890-1958) came to Bloomington in 1901. Kron worked as ...

Finding Aid

Kuerth, Hester Adams Cookbook

Hester Adams Kuerth (1891-1982) was a fifty-year member of the McLean County Home Extension. S...

Finding Aid

LaBounty, Perry & Edith

Perry LaBounty was born in Ashkum, Illinois in 1888 and died in Bloomington, Illinois in 1971. ...

Finding Aid

LaBounty, William P.

William P. LaBounty was born September 1, 1930, educated in Bloomington schools, and IWU, enlis...

Finding Aid

Labor Fatalities Collection

List of on-the-job fatalities in McLean County....

Finding Aid

Lantz, Raymond Stanley

The collection materials consist of Lantz’s memorabilia, photographs and booklets from his Army...

Finding Aid

Lanz, Laura

This collection contains essays by Laura from high school, her high school report cards, biogra...

Finding Aid

Latino History Project Collection

The McLean County Latino History Project seeks to research and record the culture and experienc...

Finding Aid

Lennon, Barbara E.

The Barbara Egger Lennon Collection contains many newspaper clippings, personal and professiona...

Finding Aid

Lennon, John Brown

The John Brown Lennon collection contains newspaper articles, personal and professional corresp...

Finding Aid

Lillard Collection

This collection contains genealogical research materials for the Lillard family and a World War...

Finding Aid

Lincoln, Abraham Recollections and Newspaper Articles

This collection consists primarily of newspaper recollections of Abraham Lincoln made by McLean...

Finding Aid

Lincoln, Abraham— Miscellaneous Publications

Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) was the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his ass...

Finding Aid

Litta, Marie

The Marie Litta Collection consists of materials relating to the life, career, and death of the...

Finding Aid

Livingston Family Collection

In 1927, a writer in the Pantagraph opined, “Probably no other family in Bloomington has played...

Finding Aid

Loeseke / Karl's Quality Café

Finding Aid

Longfellow Club

The Longfellow Club dates to April 6, 1882 when Miss Alice Suddeth, assisted by Miss Mae Sherwi...

Finding Aid

Lundeen, Edgar and Rachael

This collection includes Hundreds of letters, genealogical work for the families of Edgar and R...

Finding Aid

Major Collection of Letters from Liberia

The Major Collection of Letters from Liberia consists of twelve letters written by formerly ens...

Finding Aid

Manahan, Eugene

Lester Eugene Manahan was born to Benton and Lillie Manahan in Arrowsmith, Illinois, August 30,...

Finding Aid

Mandel-Cohn Collection

This collection covers multiple generations of the Mandel-Cohn family and includes personal cor...

Finding Aid

Mark & Margaret Kalahar Hayes

Mark Bruno Hayes (1889-1959) was born in Bloomington, Illinois and earned a pharmacy certificat...

Finding Aid

Markowitz, Judy

The Judy Markowitz Collection primarily consists of material from Markowitz’s time as mayor, in...

Finding Aid

Mason Family

This collection includes biographical materials; personal, family and business correspondence; ...

Finding Aid

Matejka, Michael

This collection includes biographical essays, essays and journal articles, speeches, labor unio...

Finding Aid

Mau, McCoy, & Haskell

Helmuth and Augusta Mau came to the United States from Germany in the 1890s. The Maus settled ...

Finding Aid

May Christian Collection

Annie May Christian (she went by May for most of her life) was born in Decatur, Illinois, in 18...

Finding Aid

Mayer, Marjorie (Wood)

Marjorie Wood (1913-2008) was born in Melvin, IL and reared in rural Colfax. She wed Eugene May...

Finding Aid

McCarty Family

This collection includes personal letters, diaries, genealogies and other family materials....

Finding Aid

McEwen Brothers Blacksmith Shop

According to an article in The Pantagraph of July 17, 1942, John and William McEwen established...

Finding Aid

McFee, John

John McFee was a well-known farmer, who also bred Berkshire swine. He lived four miles west of ...

Finding Aid

McKeon

The collection includes Marguerite McKeon and Geraldine McKeon’s personal correspondence from f...

Finding Aid

McKinzie Family

This collection primarily contains letters from sons John and James to their parents especially...

Finding Aid

McLean County Bar Association Memorials

The tradition of the McLean County Bar Association since 1897 has been to memorialize deceased ...

Finding Aid

McLean County Museum of History Asian Indian History Project

The McLean County Asian Indian History Project was begun in the early 2000s to research and doc...

Finding Aid

McLean County Poor Farm

For more than 90 years, the McLean County Poor Farm, located south of Bloomington, housed some ...

Finding Aid

McMackin Family

This collection includes an array of family correspondence, business receipts, legal documents ...

Finding Aid

McNulta, John Collection

The collection includes a photocopy of the Appointment to Captain document from the Illinois St...

Finding Aid

McNulta, John Time Capsule

Contents of glass time capsule, originally compiled by members of the Grand Army of the Republi...

Finding Aid

Mennonite Hospital Newsletter

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

Finding Aid

Merwin

A Bloomington native, Loring C. Merwin served as publisher of the Pantagraph for over three dec...

Finding Aid

Middleton, Richard & James Gill

This collection contains newspaper clippings, genealogical research, annual reports, WWII forms...

Finding Aid

Millard, Lt. Mark

This collection consists of materials collected by Helen Millard, mother of Mark Millard. The m...

Finding Aid

Miller, George

George H. Miller (1856 - 1927) was one of eight children born to German immigrants in Bloomingt...

Finding Aid

Montgomery, Alfred

Alfred Montgomery (1858-1922) was born in Logan County, Illinois, and moved to Bloomington in 1...

Finding Aid

Moon Family

The Moon family collection contains a diverse amount of material, ranging from correspondence t...

Finding Aid

Moore, John

John Moore was born September 8, 1793, in Grantham, Lincolnshire, England. His parents died whe...

Finding Aid

Moratz, Paul O.

This collection contains a miscellany of items, such as newspaper articles, building specificat...

Finding Aid

Morgan, Charles

Charles Morgan, a carpenter by trade, started his diaries in 1896. In his earliest days he was...

Finding Aid

Morgan, Raymond “Doc”

“He was a humble person, a fine golfer and a great gentleman.” So opined Bloomington Country Cl...

Finding Aid

Morrell-Moreland Family

The collection includes correspondence (mostly personal), will and probate documents, financial...

Finding Aid

Morrissey, John O.

John O’Connell Morrissey was born April 13, 1896. He was educated in Bloomington schools, and ...

Finding Aid

Munce

Mary Jeanette Munce was born to Clara DeMotte Munce and Charles C. Munce in 1907 in Bloomington...

Finding Aid

Murray & Carmody Funeral Home

Frederick E. Murray, undertaker, opened his funeral or memorial home at 914 N. Main Street, Blo...

Finding Aid

Myers, John F.

Born in 1834 in Kentucky, John Frances Myers came to McLean County as an infant and grew up on ...

Finding Aid

Nancy J. Peairs Ramos Scrapbook Collection

Nancy Jane Peairs documented her years at Unit 5 in two scrapbooks. They mainly included Junior...

Finding Aid

Old Settlers Association of Eastern McLean County

From 1885 to 1915, self-described “old settlers” of eastern McLean County held an annual picnic...

Finding Aid

Oldendorf, Sandra Brenneman

This collection covers the Brenneman ancestry as well as Sandra Brenneman Oldendorf’s personal ...

Finding Aid

Orendorff

The collection focuses upon William Orendorff (March 26, 1792 – May 12, 1869), one of the first...

Finding Aid

Orendorff Family Collection

The Orendorff family was among the first settlers in McLean County, when brothers William and T...

Finding Aid

Orendorff, Ella

The Ella Orendorff Collection consists primarily of newspaper clippings about the Orendorff fam...

Finding Aid

Orme, William W.

The collection includes correspondence; land deeds; and assorted documents from Orme’s legal pr...

Finding Aid

Outlaw, Damon G.

Damon Garst Outlaw was born April 26, 1912 in Stanford, Illinois to Roy Orville and Alpha Blanc...

Finding Aid

O’Hara, William J.

William J. O’Hara (1896-1986) was born in the Hudson area, the son of Owen and Johanna O’Neil O...

Finding Aid

Packard Family Collection

The Packard family was from Bolton in Quebec, Canada. Brothers Charles (MD), Walter, Jesse, Fra...

Finding Aid

Paddock, Joseph William

Joseph Paddock was born in Pana, Illinois, the family moved to Evanston where Joseph went to gr...

Finding Aid

Parker Bros. Coal Co.

Founded in Bloomington in 1868, Parker Brothers continued under Parker family ownership for ove...

Finding Aid

Patton Cabin

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

Finding Aid

Patton Family

The collection includes over 200 personal letters, mostly sent to Sarah H. Daugherty/ Sarah Pat...

Finding Aid

Perkins-Martin Family

Catherine Anne Perkins Martin (1900-1885) was born in Stanstead, Canada October 15, 1800 and ma...

Finding Aid

Phoenix Family and Nursery

Materials in the Phoenix collection cover the history of the Phoenix family and its nurseries i...

Finding Aid

Pierson, A.V.

Arthur Van Dyke (A. V.) Pierson was born in Ohio in 1849 and his family traveled by wagon to Mc...

Finding Aid

Pistole, Richard

Richard “Dick” Pistole was born in Heyworth, IL. After graduating from Heyworth High School, Pi...

Finding Aid

Ploense, Gary

Gary Ploense served two tours in the Marine Corps in Vietnam, 1967-1968. In 1988, he organized ...

Finding Aid

Porter, Ida

Ida Porter was a soprano who could sing in English, German, French, and Italian; both classical...

Finding Aid

Pratt, Awadagin

Awadagin Pratt was born in Pittsburgh in 1966. He began studying piano at the age of six. Whe...

Finding Aid

Purnell, Paul

This collection contains documents, newspaper clippings, and other two-dimensional objects that...

Finding Aid

Putman, Dale and Ruth of Pleasant Hill

Pleasant Hill was founded in the 1840s by Isaac Smalley. He held aspirations that Pleasant Hil...

Finding Aid

Quinton

The J. R. Quinton Collection consists of one box with thirty-eight folders. It primarily contai...

Finding Aid

Railroad Fatalities

The collection includes copies of newspaper articles and obituaries of individuals killed in ra...

Finding Aid

Ramsey

Although the collection donated to the Museum provides limited information, the Ramsey family l...

Finding Aid

Reeder, Ida

Most of this collection consists of loose items from a travel scrapbook from Ida Reeder, a long...

Finding Aid

Reiner - Bennett

Bloomington-born William C. Reiner (1882-1945) worked as an upholsterer for the Alton Railroad ...

Finding Aid

Reis, Evelyn

Evelyn Reis, also known as Evy, was born on September 17, 1918 in Chenoa, Illinois. She is a w...

Finding Aid

Reitan, Carol

This collection includes a selection of materials donated by Carol A. Reitan largely involving ...

Finding Aid

Reuben Moore Benjamin Collection

Reuben Moore Benjamin was born in June of 1833 in Columbia County, New York. Benjamin graduated...

Finding Aid

Rhymer, Paul

Vic and Sade was a radio show (1932 – 1945) and short lived television show (1957) created by P...

Finding Aid

Rice, Charles Edward

Charles Edward Rice (October 5, 1949-October 17, 2008) was an Army veteran of the Vietnam War, ...

Finding Aid

Ringo Family

Claude Ringo (1911-2005) was born in Saybrook, IL, to Atlee and Belva Pearle Swaim Ringo. In 19...

Finding Aid

Rolley, Elias W.

Elias William Rolley was drafted into the U.S. Army Coast Artillery Corps (CAC), became a commi...

Finding Aid

Ronald Bogart – Adlai Stevenson I

This collection contains autographs of members of the Stevenson family, a biography of Adlai E....

Finding Aid

Ropp, Gordon L. State Representative

Gordon L. Ropp was born in Normal on April 5, 1933. He served as State Representative from 1979...

Finding Aid

Ross, David C.

David Claypool Ross (1851-1938) was a teacher, lawyer, lecturer and businessman, living in Bloo...

Finding Aid

Rowlands Family

Howell Rowlands was born on April 15, 1847, in Llanbrynmair, North Wales, and immigrated to McL...

Finding Aid

Runge

The Runge Collection consists both of public and private materials primarily from the 1930s and...

Finding Aid

Ryburn, Orendorff, Hollis Families

This one box collection holds a variety of items including: family correspondences from the Ryb...

Finding Aid

Sage, Harold K.

This collection includes consists of two separate subjects. Box 1: Harold K. Sage’s files of co...

Finding Aid

Salch, David State Farm

David Salch was an insurance salesman who grew up in Bloomington, Illinois. His parents were he...

Finding Aid

Sanders, Josephine ("Irene Delroy") / Pike-Sanders

This collection includes scrapbooks, posters, and photographs from Irene Delroy’s career. It a...

Finding Aid

Satterfield Farm

William Franklin Satterfield, called Frank, was born on October 3, 1890 at Marion, Illinois and...

Finding Aid

Schultz, Herman C.

Herman C. Schultz (1912-1995) was born in McLean County, Illinois. He was inducted into the Un...

Finding Aid

Scott, Garrett

The Garrett Scott 2003 Re-Election Campaign Collection primarily consists of material around th...

Finding Aid

Scott, Judge John Milton

John Milton Scott was born on August 1, 1823 in Belleville, St. Clair County, Illinois. In 1848...

Finding Aid

Scott, Sandra

This collection includes an array of materials such as job resumes; samples of work at WJBC Rad...

Finding Aid

Sebastian-Bishop

The starting point for this collection is Donna Sebastian, who donated the materials and who co...

Finding Aid

See Family

Frank See was born in Virginia to Nimrod See and Margaret Sherman. He was a 34-year-old farmer ...

Finding Aid

Sharp, Dorothy

This small collection contains photos, a scrapbook, programs, newspaper clippings and an ID car...

Finding Aid

Sinclair, Harold

During his life, Sinclair published a trilogy—American Years (1938), Years of Growth (1940), an...

Finding Aid

Slack, Kent Collection 33rd Illinois Volunteer Infantry Research

Kent Slack was an intern at the McLean County Museum of History in 1981. His project included ...

Finding Aid

Smith, Sidney

Robert Sidney "Sid" Smith (1873-1935) was born in Bloomington, Illinois, on February ...

Finding Aid

Smitson-Brown

Helen Smitson (1898-1978) was the daughter of David C. Smitson (1860-1940) and Mary Elizabeth B...

Finding Aid

Sohl, Jerry

This collection contains biographical material, newspaper articles, bibliographies, examples of...

Finding Aid

Soule Family

George Soule came to America on the Mayflower in 1620 a servant to Edward Winslow’s family. Des...

Finding Aid

Spanish-American War Veterans

Includes rosters, newspaper articles, burial records, programs and proceedings from annual vete...

Finding Aid

Steak N Shake

Steak n Shake was founded by Gus Belt in Normal in 1934. He converted a gas station / chicken ...

Finding Aid

Steele, Nelle Theater

Nelle Hefner Steele (1902-1985) was born in Lexington and began teaching in 1933 in rural schoo...

Finding Aid

Steele, Ruth Teaching

The Ruth Steele Teaching Collection includes the patterns for various holiday displays and post...

Finding Aid

Steichen, Gerard C

Born in Spring Valley, IL, in 1951, Girard C. Steichen earned a BA in philosophy at University ...

Finding Aid

Stern Family

The Stern family moved to Bloomington about 1905, where Jacob Stern opened Stern’s Furniture Co...

Finding Aid

Sterzbach, Robert WWII

This collection holds the correspondence between Robert Sterzbach and Alyne Tracy from January ...

Finding Aid

Stevens, Julia Palmer

Julia Parnelle Palmer Stevens was born January 3, 1835, in Madison County, Illinois, the daught...

Finding Aid

Stevens, Saltzman Minnie

The Minnie Saltzman Stevens Papers consists of personal and legal papers belonging to the noted...

Finding Aid

Stevenson Boyhood Home

Adlai E. Stevenson II (1900-1965) was Governor of Illinois 1949-1953, and the Democratic Party ...

Finding Aid

Stevenson, Adlai E II Miscellaneous

This collection contains newspaper articles, correspondence, campaign materials, political cart...

Finding Aid

Stevenson, Adlai E II Newspaper Clippings

The collection includes primarily newspaper articles from a number of years of Adlai Stevenson ...

Finding Aid

Stevenson, Adlai E. II

Adlai Ewing Stevenson II was born in Los Angeles, California on February 5, 1900. He is the gr...

Finding Aid

Stevenson, J.B. Letter Book

J.B. (James Bell) Stevenson (1838-1890) was the third of at least seven children of John Turner...

Finding Aid

Stewart, Dr. Archibald Evan

This collection contains correspondence to Archibald Stewart from May 1858 to 1894. Corresponde...

Finding Aid

Streid, Robert

Robert Eugene Streid, born July 28, 1916, was a lifetime Chenoa resident farmer educated in the...

Finding Aid

Stubblefield Family Collection

The Stubblefield family originated in England, with brothers Edward, William, and John emigrati...

Finding Aid

Stubblefield – Funk Reunion Minutes

Robert Stubblefield and Isaac Funk were very early settlers of McLean County in what is today F...

Finding Aid

Sublett, Michael D.

Michael D. Sublett, born 1943 in Kansas City, Missouri, received his Bachelor’s Degree from the...

Finding Aid

Suggs, Frank

A professor of music at Illinois State University starting in 1969, Frank Suggs promoted Africa...

Finding Aid

Suicides

If you or someone you know is suicidal, call or text 988. All calls are confidential. Help is a...

Finding Aid

Tate, H. Clay

“Building a Better Home Town,” by H. Clay Tate was published in 1954. He wrote from his experie...

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

Thoms and O’Neil Families

The collection contents indicate the Thoms family lived in the area as early as 1883, with Carl...

Finding Aid

Tick, Irving Bloomington Human Relations Commission

Irving Stanton Tick (1928-2011) was born in Bloomington, Illinois and was a 1951 graduate of th...

Finding Aid

Tick, Irving Family

Irving “Irv” Tick (1928-2011) and Joan “Jobie” Marie (Sayler) Tick (1929-2021) were both longti...

Finding Aid

Toastmasters (Smedley) Collection

Born in Waverly IL in 1878, Ralph C. Smedley graduated Illinois Wesleyan University in 1903 and...

Finding Aid

Tucker, Wilson

This collection contains biographical material, newspaper articles, bibliographies, several sci...

Finding Aid

Turners in Bloomington

William “Bill” Adams (1927-2013) grew up in a family which participated in the Turner organizat...

Finding Aid

Tyner Farm Collection

This collection contains documents relating to the Stubblefield and Tyner families as well as t...

Finding Aid

Underwood, Justice Robert C.

The Justice Robert C. Underwood collection contains newspaper articles, correspondence, speeche...

Finding Aid

Vanderwater, Leon Musical Program

Leon “Vandy” Vanderwater (1898-1998) was raised in Kankakee, IL and moved to Bloomington, IL in...

Finding Aid

Vera Pearl Kemp Scrapbooks Collection

Vera Pearl Kemp was born December 19, 1895 at London, Kentucky, daughter of James and Cora Pear...

Finding Aid

Village of McLean (Crain Research Project)

This collection includes a minimum of one page on each property in the Village of McLean. Infor...

Finding Aid

Vogel, Joe Baseball Scrapbook

See the finding aid for our Joe Vogel Baseball Scrapbook...

Finding Aid

Vogel, Steve WJBC

Steve Vogel worked at WJBC/WBNQ Radio in Bloomington beginning in 1972 in the news department, ...

Finding Aid

Vrooman

Carl Schurz Vrooman, son of Hiram and Sarah Buffington Vrooman, was born in Macon, Missouri, Oc...

Finding Aid

Vrooman Mansion - Theora Stark

The collection includes an array of materials relating to Mansion and to the Vrooman family. It...

Finding Aid

W. O. Davis Tributes Collection

William Osbourne Davis was the son of a Quaker farmer from Pennsylvania and began his career as...

Finding Aid

Waddell, Jack

Collection contains newspaper clippings, performance programs, photos, and ephemera tracing Jac...

Finding Aid

Walker, Frank Albert

In the mid-1850s, the Joseph Walker family established a farm on the northern edge of Normal. F...

Finding Aid

Wallace, Glen / Diamond-Star Motors / Mitsubishi Motors

Glen Wallace was an employee of Mitsubishi Motors North America, Inc. (MMNA) for more than twen...

Finding Aid

Wantling, William

This four-box collection contains correspondence, professional work, academic work, and notes o...

Finding Aid

Washburn, Dorothy M.

Born in 1904, Dorothy M. Washburn was a daughter of M/M George Washburn of Bloomington. George...

Finding Aid

Webb, Sidney

Sidney Webb was born on December 28, 1899 in Leicester, England. He came to America with his pa...

Finding Aid

Wellmerling, Louis F.

This collection spans from 1927-1941 and contains many photocopied and original newspaper clipp...

Finding Aid

Wheeler Family

The Wheeler family papers were given to the McLean County Historical Society by Harriet W. Hoff...

Finding Aid

Whitmer, Peter

Finding Aid

Whittaker Family

Reginald Whittaker, born April 23, 1925, lived all his life in Normal. His parents were Walter ...

Finding Aid

William B. Price—McLean County Courthouse

The Mclean County Courthouse, located in the main square (200 N. Main Street) of downtown Bloom...

Finding Aid

Williamson, Doug WJBC Forum

Doug Williamson, born in Bloomington 8-8-1943, lived in Bloomington-Normal most of his life and...

Finding Aid

Wilson, Edith

Goldie Edith Peyton Wilson was a resident of Gridley, where she farmed with her husband Lyle on...

Finding Aid

Wilson, Edward M.

Edward Mayne Wilson was born August 16, 1866, in Dale Township, McLean County. His parents were...

Finding Aid

Wilson, Harrold B. Collection

Harrold Braden Wilson was born June 13, 1904, in Weldon, Illinois, and died June 3, 1991, in Bl...

Finding Aid

Winklepleck Family

The Winklepleck family included mostly farmers and teachers in and around Bloomington, IL. This...

Finding Aid

Withers Home

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

Finding Aid

Wolcott, J.L.

The J.L. Wolcott Collection contains photocopies of newspaper articles and advertisements for W...

Finding Aid

Wood, Lois Postcard

This is a collection of over 250 postcards collected by Lois Wood over the years to show life i...

Finding Aid

Woodward, Horace E.

Woodward, known by his friends as “Hod,” was born on August 21, 1878 to Walter M. and Ellen N. ...

Finding Aid

World War II Home Front Oral Histories

The Interviewers were senior students of W. Michael Weis, Ph.D., Professor of History at Illino...

Finding Aid

World War II Interview Papers Collection

World War II erupted in September 1939 with the German invasion of Poland and ended with Japan’...

Finding Aid

Wyckoff, Martin

Martin Anders Wyckoff was born in Normal, Illinois April 20, 1950, to Delmar and Elizabeth Ande...

Finding Aid

Yeast, Laurence (Larry) J.

Laurence (Larry) Yeast was born in McLean County June 11, 1915. Yeast was a Bloomington High S...

Finding Aid

Yoder, Wallace & Betty

Wallace Yoder’s mother was Harriett Katherine Ayers, daughter of Luther and Ida Ayers. She was ...

Finding Aid

Young, Fred H.

Fred H. Young (1892-1980) was born September 21, 1892, in Normal, and graduated from Illinois W...

Finding Aid

Zobrist, Charles J.

This collection contains material relating to the life and career of World War I veteran Charle...

Finding Aid

Publications

15 items

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

Publication

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

Etnataek, the Arrowsmith battlefield

Publication

Evolution of the Jail of McLean County, Illinois

Publication

History Of African Americans In McLean County

This book was originally written for students. Primarily, it was intended to provide informatio...

Publication

Home Town in the Corn Belt, Volume 1: Home Town Childhood

In this volume of Home Town on the Corn Belt, articles ranging from Up Through Boyville in the ...

Publication

Home Town in the Corn Belt, Volume 2: Entertainments and Pastimes

In this volume of Home Town on the Corn Belt, articles ranging from Bloomington Chautauqua to M...

Publication

Home Town in the Corn Belt, Volume 3: Home Town Personalities

In this volume of Home Town on the Corn Belt, articles ranging from Some Memories of My Childho...

Publication

Home Town in the Corn Belt, Volume 4: For the People—Public Institutions

In this volume of Home Town on the Corn Belt, articles ranging from History of the Founding of ...

Publication

Home Town in the Corn Belt, Volume 5: Home Town Clubs and Organizations

In this volume of Home Town on the Corn Belt, articles ranging from The Amateur Musical Club to...

Publication

Irish Immigrants In McLean County

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

McLean County, Illinois, in the World War, 1917-1918

Publication

Soldiers of the war of 1812 whose bounty land grants were located in McLean County, Illinois

Publication

The William Carey Barton Family: A Study in Historical Archaeology

Between June 14 and June 30, 1994 archaeological investigations were carried out at the old Wil...

Publication

Research

1 item

ISSCS Research Guide

Guide to researching the Illinois Soldiers' and Sailors' Childrens' School in No...

Article

Speakers Bureau

6 items

Freedom, Land, and Community

Speakers Bureau

From Jenny to Albert: Pvt. Cashier and the Civil War

Speakers Bureau

Hellraisers & Heroines

Speakers Bureau

Lucy's Girls: Lucy Orme Morgan and the Girl's Industrial Home

Speakers Bureau

McLean County Holiday Stories

Speakers Bureau

McLean County Workers & Their World

Speakers Bureau

Videos

1 item

2024 History Makers Honoree Reveal

Video