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Politics and Government

A Community in Conflict

12 items

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

Digital Exhibit

1855
Between 1850 and 1855, Bloomington’s population more than doubled from 1,600 to 5,000. Many of these new residents were Irish and German immigrants, who were traditionally hearty drinkers. Judgements regarding the morality of drinking were subjective, and highly dependent upon an individual’s cultural background. When disagreements occurred, the outcome could be violent.

Digital Exhibit

1870
Who had the power to vote? Many women in McLean County believed that they, like men, should be ...

Digital Exhibit

1874
In 1874, the temperance women of Bloomington worked hard to get an ordinance passed that would prohibit the sale of alcoholic beverages.

Digital Exhibit

1907
After securing local voting rights in 1891, area suffragettes worked to expand those rights—even as others continued their efforts to keep women from voting.

Digital Exhibit

1917
In 1917 Bloomington-Normal’s street railway workers were unhappy about their pay and the number of days they worked per week. They organized a union to consolidate their power, hopeful that change would happen.

Digital Exhibit

1918
When the U.S. entered World War I, anti-German sentiment began to grow across the nation. At the time German immigrants represented about three percent of McLean County’s population.

Digital Exhibit

1931
Many people lost their jobs during the Great Depression, making survival difficult. Local leaders established a relief office from which donations of cash, food, fuel, and other supplies were distributed to the unemployed and needy. But some demanded more.

Digital Exhibit

1967
In 1967 ISU adopted affirmative action and began a concerted effort to recruit Black students. But an open housing ordinance had not been passed in Normal, and the ability of Black students to find housing was limited because of discriminatory housing practices. In addition, realtors refused to show homes to Black professionals in white neighborhoods.

Digital Exhibit

1969
Local residents held diverse views on whether American military forces should be involved in the Vietnam War. As the war progressed and it became more evident that victory would not be easily achieved, tensions rose.

Digital Exhibit

1978
In 1971 the Town of Normal decided to hire and pay full-time firefighters — they had previously been volunteers. In 1975 all 27 members of the department organized Local #2442 in order to ensure bargaining power when it came time for contract negotiations.

Digital Exhibit

1984
Members of McLean County’s gay and lesbian community faced discrimination, hateful rhetoric, and physical harm long before the Town of Normal or the City of Bloomington began to consider adding sexual orientation to their discrimination ordinances.

Digital Exhibit

Abraham Lincoln in McLean County

5 items

Expansion of Slavery
The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 threatened to extend slavery into northern territories. This da...

Digital Exhibit

Friends and Allies
During his years on the Eighth Circuit, Abraham Lincoln came to trust and depend on several lea...

Digital Exhibit

From Candidate to President and Beyond
Lincoln won the presidency in 1860 largely over the issue of slavery’s expansion....

Digital Exhibit

Lincoln's Lost Speech
On May 29, 1856, delegates from across Illinois gathered at Bloomington's Major's Hal...

Digital Exhibit

The Dark Horse Candidate
Led by his Bloomington friends, Lincoln captured the 1860 Republican nomination for president....

Digital Exhibit

Articles

17 items

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

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

Article

Bloomington’s Fifer Bohrer first state Senator
As thoughts this month turn to newly elected leaders assuming office, it’s a fitting time to lo...

Article

Bloomington’s oldest park turns 165 this week
“How pleasant it is, immediately after the noontide hour of a hot summer’s day,” mused The Pant...

Article

Campaign to aid Britain comes to Bloomington
On Dec. 5, 1940, two of Bloomington’s favorite sons returned home to call upon Americans to sup...

Article

Community fund drive kept C&A Shops in Bloomington
Local and state governments often offer incentives to keep existing businesses or attract new o...

Article

Donated Vrooman letter speaks to wartime loss
Faced with the enormity of the Second World War, it’s often difficult to put a human face on th...

Article

Kent State shootings spark month of campus unrest
The Vietnam War, it’s been said, was fought on two fronts—in Southeast Asia and back home, espe...

Article

Local abolitionists faced rage, mob violence
Rev. Levi Spencer came to Bloomington in April 1844, and it’s no exaggeration to say that his n...

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

Normal’s rich past dealt blow with razing of Fell house in 1980
Beginning in the 1960s, many fine, sturdy single-family homes dating from the 19th and early 20...

Article

Phoenix Hall site of Lincoln’s last speech in Bloomington
On April 10, 1860, five-and-a-half weeks before accepting the Republican nomination for preside...

Article

President Johnson receives ‘stern rebuke’ from locals in 1866
There’s plenty of handwringing these days over the corrosive effects of political polarization....

Article

6 men are in this photograph, two standing at a contraption with hoses attached. The floor is wet.

Project to mark firefighter graves lesson in history
As part of a Memorial Day observance last month, active and retired Twin City firefighters plac...

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

exterior view of Bloomington Fire Department Engine House No. 4

South side firehouse built after Great Fire of 1900
Although it hasn’t served as a Bloomington Fire Department station for well over seven decades,...

Article

Stevenson faced anti-U.N. mob in 1963
On United Nations Day 1963, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Adlai E. Stevenson II didn’t come back ...

Article

Virtual cemetery walk showcases amazing Florence Funk
The not-for-profit McLean County Museum of History celebrates local history in all its complexi...

Article

Biographies

44 items

Susan B. Anthony

Anthony, Susan B.
Please note: Susan B. Anthony did not live in, was not born in, and is not buried in McLean Cou...

Biography

Benjamin Reuben Moore

Benjamin, Reuben Moore
Reuben Moore Benjamin was born on June 29, 1833 in Chatham Center, Columbia County, New York (2...

Biography

Blue, Richard
Richard Blue (1842-1921) was born in Ohio and came to Bloomington at age 9 with Judge Rayburn a...

Biography

Bohrer, Florence Fifer
Florence Fifer Bohrer was no stranger to politics. She was born in 1877 into a political family...

Biography

Abram Brokaw

Brokaw, Abraham
Abraham Brokaw (he preferred to go by Abram), was born November 6, 1815 in Somerset County, New...

Biography

James Preston Butler

Butler, James Preston
James Preston Butler was a tinsmith, butcher, grocer, policeman, tax collector, alderman, const...

Biography

Crandall, June W.
June Crandall (1878-1910), a Kentucky native, came to Bloomington in 1898 and began working as ...

Biography

Sarah Davis

Davis, Sarah
Sarah Woodruff Walker Davis was born on September 4, 1814 in Lenox, Massachusetts.  She was one...

Biography

Ulysses Doubleday

Doubleday, Ulysses Freeman
Ulysses Freeman Doubleday was born on December 15, 1792 in New Lebanon, Columbia County, New Yo...

Biography

Ruby Edwards

Edwards, Ruby
Ruby A. Jackson was born on January 29, 1906 in Bloomington, Illinois.  She was the daughter of...

Biography

Alexander Erickson

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

Biography

Black and white photograph of an older man, Jesse Fell, wearing a simple suit. He has a nice gaze, looking off into the distance, and a slight upward turn to his mouth

Fell, Jesse Weldon
Jesse Weldon Fell was born on November 10, 1808 to Jesse Fell and Rebecca Roman Fell at his fat...

Biography

Louis FitzHenry

FitzHenry, Judge Louis
Louis FitzHenry was born in Bloomington on June 13, 1870. He was the oldest son born to Hiram a...

Biography

Daniel Foster

Foster, Daniel T.
Captain Daniel T. Foster was born on July 22, 1841 in Waitsfield, Washington County, Vermont. H...

Biography

Funk, Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin Funk was born on October 17, 1837 to Isaac and Cassandra Funk. Benjamin was t...

Biography

Florence Funk

Funk, Florence Mae Risser
Florence Mae Risser Funk (1871-1923) was one of McLean County’s most renowned suffragists and s...

Biography

Henry Funk

Funk, Henry
Henry Funk was a career orchardist, apiarist, poultry man, and horticulturalist. Though not to ...

Biography

Portrait of Linus Graves, a middle-aged man wearing a white collared shirt, vest, and jacket, with full beard and large nose.

Graves, Linus
Linus Graves was born in Williamstown, Vermont on April 2, 1815 one of eleven children born to ...

Biography

Asahel Gridley

Gridley, Asahel
A great deal of the information known about Asahel Gridley is based on reminiscences of his fri...

Biography

Mary Gridley

Gridley, Mary
Mary Enos Gridley was born in Onondaga Hollow, Onondaga County, New York on March 18, 1818. Whe...

Biography

Ethel Hamilton Hanson

Hanson, Ethel Hamilton
Ethel Hamilton Hanson was a popular member of society circles and active in educational, politi...

Biography

Henderson, Effie
Effie Henderson was born on October 29, 1859 in Towanda, Illinois. Her parents, Franklin and Sa...

Biography

Dr. William Hill

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

Biography

Harvey Hogg

Hogg, Harvey
The Bloomington lawyer and Civil War cavalry commander, Harvey Hogg (originally from Tennessee)...

Biography

Eva Jones

Jones, Eva
Eva Jones was a woman who never turned away from challenging situations or tough decisions. She...

Biography

Kennedy, Beulah Jones Thornton
According to Beulah Jones Thornton Kennedy, “we wanted first-class citizenship. We had to pay f...

Biography

Sigmund Livingston

Livingston, Sigmund
Read Must Men Hate onlineSigmund Livingston was born on December 27, 1872 in Giessen, Germany. ...

Biography

Harrison Clay Lott

Lott, Harrison Clay
Harrison Clay Lott was born August 16, 1848 in Madison, Indiana.  When Lott was fifteen years o...

Biography

Markowitz, Judy
Few women in McLean County history have had a greater impact on our community than Judy Markowi...

Biography

Helen Clark McCurdy

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

Biography

McNulta, John
John McNulta was born on November 9, 1837 in New York City, New York.  His father was Irish and...

Biography

William Ward Orme

Orme, William Ward
William Ward Orme was born February 17, 1832 in Washington, D.C.  William’s parents died when h...

Biography

Reitan, Carol
Carol Reitan holds a place in history as the only woman to ever serve as Mayor of Normal, but h...

Biography

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

Biography

Scott, Charlotte Ann Perry
Charlotte Ann Perry was born on September 18, 1831 in Athens, Tioga County, Pennsylvania.  She ...

Biography

Julia Green Scott

Scott, Julia Green
Julia Green Scott was born to privilege and distinguished ancestry on February 14, 1839 in Danv...

Biography

Adlai E Stevenson I

Stevenson, Adlai E. I
A devout Democrat in a staunchly Republican district, Adlai E. Stevenson I managed to be twice ...

Biography

Adlai Stevenson II

Stevenson, Adlai E. II
Politics was in his blood. Adlai Ewing Stevenson II was a member of the two most influential po...

Biography

Helen Stevenson Davis

Stevenson, Helen Davis
Helen Louise Davis Stevenson was born in Normal on September 17, 1869.  She was the daughter of...

Biography

Letitia Green Stevenson

Stevenson, Letitia Green
Letitia Barbour Green Stevenson was born in Alleghany City in Western Pennsylvania on January 8...

Biography

Trotter, Georgina
Georgina Trotter (1836-1904) and Sarah Raymond Fitzwilliam (1842 – 1918) were advocates and clo...

Biography

William Van Schoick

Van Schoick, William
Thomas William Van Schoick was born on August 2, 1829 in Monmouth County, New Jersey to David a...

Biography

Julia and Carl Vrooman

Vrooman, Carl
Carl was born in Macon County, Missouri on October 25, 1872. He was the son of Judge Hiram Perk...

Biography

Vrooman, Julia Scott
Carl was born in Macon County, Missouri on October 25, 1872. He was the son of Judge Hiram Perk...

Biography

Blog

28 items

Another One Bites the Dust Mar-Len Hotel, June 1988
Ross Griffin of Stark Excavating keeps an eye on crane operator John Quiram as he makes short w...

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

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 Fire Department Demonstration, December 15, 1939
No need to panic! The State Farm Insurance Co. downtown building was not ablaze in mid-December...

Blog Post

Bloomington Fire Station No. 2 214 W. Washington St., c. 1883
The south side of the 200 block of West Washington Street is seen here about 1883. That’s the t...

Blog Post

City Hoosegow September 1938
Old Bloomington City Hall, located at the corner of East and Monroe streets downtown, included ...

Blog Post

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

Blog Post

Free range … no more! City Hall booking, March 30, 1958
Bloomington Police officer Robert Shepherd (left) books a startled hen on accessory charges. Th...

Blog Post

Illinois Bicentennial flag raising kicks off year of programs
The State of Illinois will celebrate its 200th birthday on Dec. 3, 2018. To help kick off a yea...

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

Labor Secretary Visits Bloomington October 17, 1935
Department of Labor Secretary Frances Perkins, the first woman appointed to the U.S. Cabinet, s...

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

McHistory: Helen Clark McCurdy was a political pioneer in Bloomington
Listen to the audio on WGLT's website hereMcHistory goes back in time to explore big momen...

Blog Post

McHistory: Richard Blue was the first Black person to run for Bloomington council
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

Municipal Workers on Strike May 1968
Bloomington’s public service employees responsible for garbage pickup and cleanup work staged a...

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

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, 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, 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, 63: ​Reefer Madness In Bloomington, November 1937
McLean County State's Attorney Bernard E. Wall (right) and Deputy Sheriff James Christenso...

Blog Post

Photo of the Week, 66: African-American Voters Organize, February 1972
On February 15, 1972, the Minority Voters Coalition of Bloomington-Normal elected officers duri...

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

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

Smell that Smoke! Cecil Cone’s Barbecue, May 1953
In early May 1953, former Bloomington Mayor Cecil Cone brought past and present city officials ...

Blog Post

Urban Renewal, Bloomington Future Site of Library, 1971
This view, looking north-northeast, shows the future site of Bloomington Public Library (opened...

Blog Post

We're Special! -- The MCMH Library
It's National Library Week, which means libraries across the country are celebrating the p...

Blog Post

Exhibits

1 item

9/11: McLean County Responds
On the 1-year anniversary of 9-11 this exhibit told the story of the attack and the efforts mad...

Exhibit

Farming in the Great Corn Belt

1 item

Government Aid and Programs
The U.S. government first provided loans and incentive programs to farmers for farm land and eq...

Digital Exhibit

Finding Aids

98 items

9/11 Collection
The 9/11 attacks were a series of four coordinated terrorist attacks by the Islamic group, al-Q...

Finding Aid

Abstracts of Title
An abstract of title, or title abstract, briefly summarizes the various activities affecting ow...

Finding Aid

Adlai Stevenson Lecture Series 1965-1981
Adlai E. Stevenson, former Illinois Governor and two-time presidential candidate, grew up in Bl...

Finding Aid

All About Normal
The Normal City Council approved creating the “All About Normal” Civic Academy on October 16th,...

Finding Aid

American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
Founded in 1926, the American Civil Liberties Union is the largest national voluntary organizat...

Finding Aid

Angler’s Lake
The citizen effort to preserve Angler’s Lake, located in southeast Bloomington, began in 1979. ...

Finding Aid

Apollo 11 Pantagraph Run
This collection of The Daily Pantagraph covers the Apollo 11 space flight and Moon landing. The...

Finding Aid

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

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

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

Finding Aid

Bloomington Center for the Performing Arts (BCPA)
The Bloomington Center for the Performing Arts (BCPA) occupies a site built in 1921 to house Th...

Finding Aid

Bloomington Fire Department Collection
This collection consists of photocopied newspaper articles, a few original artifacts, and a CD-...

Finding Aid

Bloomington Municipal Collection
The City of Bloomington was incorporated in 1950. The first mayor was David L. Perry, and the c...

Finding Aid

Bloomington Public Library Time Capsule 1977
In August 1977, Withers / Bloomington Public Library staff sealed a time capsule at the new lib...

Finding Aid

Bloomington Sesquicentennial
Bloomington celebrated its 150th birthday with a free, family-friendly downtown festival on Sat...

Finding Aid

Bloomington-Normal Black History Project
Finding aid for the 6-box archival collection ...

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

Bus Transit
The Bloomington-Normal public transit system opened in 1938 under the name “Bloomington-Normal ...

Finding Aid

Carlock Public Library
Opening in 1979, the Carlock Public Library, formerly known as the Carey E. Burdette Memorial L...

Finding Aid

Cold War
The Cold War was an ongoing political rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union an...

Finding Aid

Constitution Trail
Constitution Trail is a “linear park” that provides more than 37 miles of trails for biking, hi...

Finding Aid

Convention Debates & Proceedings 1869-1870
Lawyer (and later Judge) Ruben Moore Benjamin represented McLean County in the Convention.  He ...

Finding Aid

Corn on the Curb 2000
Corn-on-the-Curb, inspired by Chicago’s “Cows on Parade” in 1999, was conceived by Mayor Judy M...

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

Delphi — Bloomington Chapter
Founded in 1930 as a business woman’s civic group, the Bloomington Chapter of Delphi was part o...

Finding Aid

Democratic National Convention 1984
The 1984 Democratic National Convention nominated Walter Mondale and Geraldine Ferraro for Pres...

Finding Aid

District 87 Unit 5 Consolidation Campaign
In 1992 an ad hoc committee requested a study of the future of education in Bloomington-Normal,...

Finding Aid

Downtown Bloomington Historical Survey
In 1984 Greg Koos and William Walters began the work of obtaining National Historic standing fo...

Finding Aid

Downtown Bloomington Redevelopment Collection
The downtown Bloomington Redevelopment Collection contains various plans and miscellaneous info...

Finding Aid

Election Authorities
Since the 1970 Illinois constitution, the State Board of Elections has administered the electio...

Finding Aid

Equal Rights Amendment
In 1972, the U. S. Congress passed the proposed Constitutional Amendment granting women more ri...

Finding Aid

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

Finding Aid

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

Finding Aid

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

Finding Aid

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

Finding Aid

Freedom Train
The Freedom Train began as a concept formulated by government officials in early 1946. Strongly...

Finding Aid

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

Finding Aid

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

Finding Aid

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

Finding Aid

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

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

Kinser, Betty
Betty Marshall Kinser was born on November 15, 1941 in Bloomington, IN. In her youth she was kn...

Finding Aid

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

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

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

Finding Aid

Lincoln Statue Bicentennial Project (1975-1978)
V.L. (“Budd”) Fairfield (1926-2009). Bloomington High School American history teacher, served a...

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

Lincolns in Town
The Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission of McLean County was formed jointly by Bloomington,...

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

Martin Luther King Jr Awards Program — Human Relation Commissions
The Martin Luther King Jr Awards program is an annual event sponsored by the Bloomington Human ...

Finding Aid

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

Finding Aid

McLean County Chamber of Commerce
This collection contains annual reports; contact lists; work program packets; brochures; pamphl...

Finding Aid

McLean County Courthouse 4 Preservation Collection
The McLean County Courthouse was built between 1900 and 1903 after the Great Fire of June 1900....

Finding Aid

McLean County Courthouse Clock
A clock was installed in the courthouse tower in 1878, and that year it was decided that the be...

Finding Aid

McLean County Courthouses
Documents include general histories, newspaper articles, architects’ specifications, cornerston...

Finding Aid

McLean County Emergency Squad
In 1967 with the near completion of Interstate 74 and Interstate 55, Bloomington, Illinois had ...

Finding Aid

McLean County Government
By action of the General Assembly of Illinois, the County of McLean, Illinois was formed on Dec...

Finding Aid

McLean County Jail Review Committee Collection
The McLean County Jail Review Committee is a citizens’ group founded in 1980 at the suggestion ...

Finding Aid

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

Finding Aid

McLean County Sesquicentennial Committee
The McLean County Sesquicentennial Celebration commemorated the founding of McLean County 150 y...

Finding Aid

McLean County WWII Memorial
The WWII Memorial Committee was formed in the fall of 1994 after Normal Mayor Paul Harmon notic...

Finding Aid

Money Creek Municipal
Money Creek Township included six square miles of land used for agriculture. The present-day Vi...

Finding Aid

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

Finding Aid

Moraine View State Recreation Area
This collection includes newspaper clippings from 1941 through 1985, plus manuscript histories ...

Finding Aid

Normal Anti-Liquor Ordinance Petition
In November 1866, a petition for an ordinance prohibiting the sale of liquor in the town of Nor...

Finding Aid

Normal Municipal
This collection includes Town of Normal publications—both general and department-specific—as we...

Finding Aid

Not In Our Town
The Not In Our Town (NIOT) movement began in Billings, MT, in 1992 to “stop hate, racism and bu...

Finding Aid

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

Finding Aid

Political Ephemera
This collection includes an array of ballots, flyers, pamphlets, and correspondences regarding ...

Finding Aid

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

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

School District Consolidation Campaign 1992-96
In 1992 an ad hoc committee requested a study of the future of education in Bloomington-Normal,...

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

Sister City Asahikawa
This collection contains correspondence, budgets, fundraiser information, newspaper clippings, ...

Finding Aid

State Farm Building
The State Farm Building in downtown Bloomington, the tallest building in the downtown area, has...

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

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

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

Finding Aid

Uniquely Bloomington
In May 1999, the City of Bloomington created a semi-independent commission with city funding. T...

Finding Aid

Urban Storm Water Task Force
In 1976, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency formed a Task Force on urban stormwater a...

Finding Aid

Vietnam War
This collection contains letters, newspaper articles, and various manuscripts relating to and c...

Finding Aid

Vladimir/Canterbury Sister City Committee
Local citizen visits to the Soviet Union, the Portland-based Ground Zero Pairing Project and th...

Finding Aid

Voice for Choice
Founded in mid-1989, Voice for Choice was a local organization “devoted to ensuring the right t...

Finding Aid

Water
The file contains various reports, newspaper clippings, maps, and ephemera regarding the water ...

Finding Aid

Wellmerling, Louis F.
This collection spans from 1927-1941 and contains many photocopied and original newspaper clipp...

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

World War I Collection
The World War I Collection is divided into five sections, organized from general to specific as...

Finding Aid

World War I: State Council of Defense
During the summer of 1918, the State Council of Defense of Illinois organized local committees ...

Finding Aid

Making a Home

1 item

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

Digital Exhibit

Publications

1 item

Evolution of the Jail of 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

6 items

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

Speakers Bureau

Freedom, Land, and Community

Speakers Bureau

Hellraisers & Heroines

Speakers Bureau

McLean County Workers & Their World

Speakers Bureau

The 'Lost Speech' Found: Abraham Lincoln and the Founding of the Illinois Republican Party

Speakers Bureau

Wet or Dry? - Prohibition in McLean County, 1920-1933

Speakers Bureau

Videos

5 items

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

Video

Elections with Robert Bradley

Video

Opening Plenary: Leveraging Policy and Creating Cultural Districts to Drive Economic Success

Video

Social Justice History Walking Tour

Video

Special Election Lunch & Learn with Dr. Andrew Hartman

Video

Websites

1 item

Adlai Today
Adlai Today examines the references made to Adlai Stevenson II in current issues in news storie...

Website