Author Archives: editor

Argus Hotel, 214 S. Fourth St.

Posted on February 11, 2018 by editor

The Argus Hotel was the longest-lasting of several hotels that operated between 1895 and 1985 at 214 S. Fourth St. See First Lincoln Home.

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The first Lincoln home (214 S. Fourth St.)

Posted on February 11, 2018 by editor

Immediately after their marriage on Nov. 4, 1842, Abraham and Mary Lincoln rented a single room at the Globe Tavern, 315 E. Adams St. In the fall of 1843, following the birth at the Globe of their son Robert, the … Continue reading →

Posted in Buildings, Hotels & taverns, Illustrations, Lincoln, Abraham, Markers | 3 Comments

Douglass Community Center

Posted on February 6, 2018 by editor

The Douglass Community Center offered civic, social and educational opportunities to African-American residents of Springfield when most similar organizations were closed to blacks. The Douglass center (apparently named after abolitionist Frederick Douglass) opened in 1926. It was phased out as … Continue reading →

Posted in African Americans, Buildings, Children, Ethnic groups, Local government, Social life, Social services, Sports and recreation | Leave a comment

Z.W. Mitchell, African-American activist

Posted on February 3, 2018 by editor

Zedekiah “Z.W.” Mitchell, though a resident of Springfield for only a few years, was the controversial leader of the movement that eventually created the city’s Douglass Community Center, a social and cultural agency that served African-Americans for 30 years. See … Continue reading →

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Centennial Co-Operative Educational Congress, 1918

Posted on February 3, 2018 by editor

Black Springfieldians observed Illinois’ 100th anniversary in 1918 with a three-day conference examining the status, progress and prospects of the state’s African-American community. Some 3,000 people attended the Centennial Co-Operative Educational Congress, held Sept. 22-24, 1918, at the Illinois State … Continue reading →

Posted in African Americans, Lincoln, Abraham, Local government, Prominent figures, Social services | Leave a comment

“Save the Union” riot, 1928

Posted on January 29, 2018 by editor

About 250 club-wielding coal miners allied with John L. Lewis’ faction of the United Mine Workers of America attacked members of an anti-Lewis splinter group, the “Save the Union” movement, at Springfield’s Old West Mine on April 24, 1928. See … Continue reading →

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Roy Jones (radical activist)

Posted on January 29, 2018 by editor

Roy Jones’ alleged Communist sympathies in the 1920s and ’30s got him in trouble with both with law enforcement and more conservative wings of the labor movement. See Hunger march blockade, 1933.

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George Voyzey (labor radical)

Posted on January 29, 2018 by editor

Springfield activist George Voyzey’s radical sympathies got him in trouble with both local authorities and some other labor union leaders. See Hunger march blockade, 1933.

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Hunger march blockade, 1933

Posted on January 29, 2018 by editor

Police cordoned off Sangamon County in April 1933 to quell a planned “hunger march” on the Statehouse by unemployed people from around Illinois. Springfield Mayor John “Buddy” Kapp summed up authorities’ opinion of the demonstration: “The law enforcing officers of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Coal mines and mining, Depression, Illinois capital, Labor unions, Law enforcement, Prominent figures, State government | Leave a comment

‘Toy-pistol tetanus’

Posted on January 22, 2018 by editor

Dozens of young Sangamon County residents were injured, and a few killed, by toy pistols during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The pistols were a regular feature of the Fourth of July, which is when the vast majority … Continue reading →

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