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Racism

A Community in Conflict

12 items

1844
Despite predominant pro-slavery views during the 1830s through the 1850s, there were those who risked prosecution under the Fugitive Slave Act to help enslaved men, women, and children escape to freedom in the north.

Digital Exhibit

1846
Intimidation, bullying, threats, and manipulation have all been used by people in McLean County in order to gain and maintain power. In the process individual rights and freedoms were often denied to those on the receiving end.

Digital Exhibit

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

Digital Exhibit

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

Digital Exhibit

1871
In 1871, Martha and Henry Crow wanted their children to get as much education as possible.

Digital Exhibit

1898
Bloomington’s African American citizens did not always agree when it came to politics. But they did agree that they deserved more respect from white people.

Digital Exhibit

1919
During the late 1800s, Black people in McLean County were provided with equal access to public facilities and accommodations. But in the early 1900s, Jim Crow segregation dramatically increased in Central Illinois and Black people were increasingly treated as second-class citizens.

Digital Exhibit

1921
During the early 1920s, McLean County experienced an intense period of Ku Klux Klan (KKK) recruiting, meetings, and public gatherings.

Digital Exhibit

1939
Black students could attend Illinois State Normal University as early as the 1870s. But if they could not find off-campus housing in Bloomington or Normal, that opportunity disappeared.

Digital Exhibit

1965
Low income residents faced challenges when it came to home ownership. Their treatment by government officials made it nearly impossible for them to improve their circumstances, and sometimes made their situations worse.

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

1970
Despite new civil rights laws, discrimination still existed in Bloomington schools.

Digital Exhibit

Abraham Lincoln in McLean County

4 items

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

Digital Exhibit

Lincoln and the Eighth Judicial Circuit
For more than two decades, the Eighth Circuit brought Lincoln to McLean County and its seat of ...

Digital Exhibit

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

Digital Exhibit

National Exposure
In 1858 Lincoln faced Stephen Douglas in an epic U.S. Senate race highlighted by seven debates....

Digital Exhibit

Articles

11 items

soldiers standing in smoking rubble

Bloomington inescapably linked to Springfield Race Riot
The Springfield Race Riot of August 14-15, 1908, when thousands of white residents rampaged thr...

Article

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

team photo

Buffaloes battled for respect on hardwood court
In late October 1921, the Bloomington Buffaloes, a “colored” basketball team, defeated a rival ...

Article

A man kneels, inserting an American flag next to a grave stone in a cemetery.

Central Illinois final resting place for once-enslaved persons
The stain of slavery pervades the American experience, dating well before the nation’s founding...

Article

Early African-American doctor faced segregated Twin Cities
African-American physician Eugene G. Covington came to Bloomington about 1900 to open a medical...

Article

klansman on a hooded horse

Notorious silent movie drew local protests
The 1915 silent film “The Birth of a Nation” is acclaimed today as one of the greatest achievem...

Article

13 children and young adults sit on a long bench at a table. The table has a white table cloth and place settings for each person. One man is at the head of the table, wearing a bow tie. A woman stands behind the table in a dress. They are all looking at the camera, many of the children are smiling. All of the people in the photograph are African American. The walls appear to be lightly-painted brick.

Washington Home couple worked ‘through the heart’
“Cooks and counselors, painters and referees, they are also mom and pop to up to twenty childre...

Article

Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad passenger train rumbling through Bloomington's west side.

West side Subway Club earned notoriety in late ’50s
Try as he might, Bloomington Mayor Robert McGraw could not close the Subway Club, an afterhours...

Article

1947 Halloween party at the Day Nursery, 1320 W. Mulberry St.

‘Angel of the West Side’ met daycare needs a century ago
Ah, the good old days when all fathers were breadwinners and all mothers were homemakers. Well,...

Article

‘Black Devils’ earned fame in WW I
During World War I, several dozen Bloomington-Normal residents fought in an African-American re...

Article

‘Welby and Pearl,’ minstrel act with local roots
For the better part of four decades, friends Jacob Welby Bucher and Charles Carroll Fell of Blo...

Article

Biographies

25 items

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

Biography

Henry Brown

Brown, Henry L.
Henry Brown was never afraid to learn new skills to overcome the challenges life threw at him. ...

Biography

Edward Bynum

Bynum, Edward
True and literal meaning is leant to the phrase “brothers in arms” by and his younger brother L...

Biography

Lincoln Bynum in 1969

Bynum, Lincoln
True and literal meaning is leant to the phrase “brothers in arms” by Lincoln Bynum and his old...

Biography

Calcote, Matilda
Matilda Bell Heaston entered the world on November 30, 1910. Born to Jake and Doshie (Robinson)...

Biography

Claxton, Belle Blue
Belle Blue Claxton was born in Bloomington, IL on April 30, 1872.  She was a daughter of Richar...

Biography

Alverta Duff

Duff, Alverta
 Alverta Duff was the oldest child of Peter Charles and Fannie E. (Walker) Duff. She was born o...

Biography

Julia Duff

Duff, Julia
Julia Edith Duff was born on June 5, 1895 in Normal, Illinois, the daughter of Peter Charles an...

Biography

Ebo, Sister Mary Antona
Sister Mary Antona Ebo was a well-behaved woman who DID make history as one of the Sisters of S...

Biography

Ruby Edwards

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

Biography

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

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

Kennedy, Merlin Robert
The local story of the American Civil Rights Movement, especially in McLean County, cannot be t...

Biography

McCoslin, William
William McCoslin (1830-1878) was born in Vandalia, Illinois on July 27, 1830. While the names o...

Biography

Murray, Ethel
Much of what we know today about Murray comes from oral history which can sometimes contradict ...

Biography

Rice, Martha Baker
Martha H. Baker (Rice) was born in Richmond, Kentucky on September 4, 1817.  Her parent’s names...

Biography

Willis Stearles

Stearles, Willis
Much of what we know today about Willis Stearles comes from oral history, members of the commun...

Biography

Grace Stewart

Stewart, Grace Huddleston
Grace Huddleston Stewart became known throughout Bloomington after she brought a fair housing c...

Biography

Ella Stokes

Stokes, Ella Lee
Ella Lee Luallen is one of many important voices in the Black history of McLean County. She was...

Biography

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

Biography

Private Gus Williams funeral

Williams, Private Gus
Augustus “Gus” Williams was born in Jacksonville, Illinois on September 22, 1892. He was the so...

Biography

Allen Withers

Withers, Allen
Allen Withers was born on a farm in Jessamine County, Kentucky about seven miles from Nicholasv...

Biography

Sarah Withers

Withers, Sarah
Sarah Rice Withers was born to John M. Rice and Patsy (Polly) Johnson Rice in Jessamine County,...

Biography

Julius Witherspoon

Witherspoon, Julius
Julius Witherspoon (1859-1906) relocated to Bloomington from Arkansas when he was 24. He worked...

Biography

Blog

6 items

Ebony Affair: The Fight to Keep Black Voices on the Air

Blog Post

McHistory: Housekeeper for the affluent and the tawdry
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: Segregation in Bloomington-Normal
Listen to the audio on WGLT's website hereMcHistory goes back in time to explore big momen...

Blog Post

Photo of the Week, 116: We Shall Overcome, October 1965
On Sunday, October 24, 1965, demonstrators from Illinois State University marched along Main St...

Blog Post

Whites-only beach Miller Park, Bloomington, July 1940
From the 1910s into the 1950s, there were racially segregated beaches at Miller Park. The much ...

Blog Post

Finding Aids

1 item

Miller Park
This collection contains various newspaper articles associated with Miller Park, programs from ...

Finding Aid

Making a Home

2 items

Duff Family
After the Civil War many African Americans came north searching for jobs, less discrimination, ...

Digital Exhibit

William and Henry Wells
Brothers William and Henry Wells had both been born into slavery. They were free men when they ...

Digital Exhibit

Oral Histories

6 items

Beth Echeverria

Oral History

Claude Hursey
Claude Hursey was born in Mississippi, the son of a Greek father and an African-American mother...

Oral History

John Barrientes

Oral History

Lue Anna Clark
Father was enslaved, WWI era restaurant business, boarding of ISNU students...

Oral History

Manny and Margot Mendoza

Oral History

Sarita Mendiola

Oral History

Research

1 item

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

Article

Videos

4 items

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

Video

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

Video

Miller Park: An Evening of Stories with Bill Kemp

Video

Social Justice History Walking Tour

Video

Working for a Living

1 item

Fair Labor Practices Improve
With access to both highway and rail transportation, national companies were attracted to McLea...

Digital Exhibit