Category Archives: Media

Poisoning and racial controversy, 1860

Posted on April 7, 2017 by editor

The sentencing of three African-American teenagers in 1860 on charges they tried to poison the employers of two of them highlighted differences in how courts and the newspapers treated blacks and whites at the time. Perhaps inevitably, the case also … Continue reading →

Posted in Abolitionism, African Americans, Crime and vice, Journalism, Law enforcement, Media, Politics, Prominent figures | Leave a comment

Charles Darwin letters, Illinois State Register (1914)

Posted on June 12, 2016 by editor

More than 50 years after Charles Darwin published The Origin of Species, the Illinois State Register devoted seven full pages over the summer of 1914 to the continued controversy over Darwin’s theory of natural selection. The result was a verbose … Continue reading →

Posted in Arts and letters, Media | Leave a comment

Mid-Day Luncheon Club

Posted on May 22, 2016 by editor

Springfield’s Mid-Day Luncheon Club played host to world leaders, past and future presidents, philosophers, magnates and monarchs in a speech series that lasted more than 50 years. And then there was that totem pole. The club was made official in … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Media, Native Americans, Prominent figures, Social life | Leave a comment

Late-night Springfield, 1935

Posted on April 13, 2016 by editor

J. Emil Smith wrote a daily column, “Making Conversation,” for more than 28 years, starting when he became editor of the Illinois State Journal in 1930. Much of the column was made up of briefs, jokes, poems and birthday notices for friends … Continue reading →

Posted in Amusements, Hotels & taverns, Journalism, Local government, Media, Politics, Prominent figures, Restaurants, Social life | Leave a comment

New Berlin rodeo

Posted on February 23, 2016 by editor

The Stapleton Rodeo drew thousands of spectators weekly to an arena west of New Berlin from 1927 until the eve of World War II. Competitors ranged from local cowboys to some of the top nationwide riders. The rodeo’s impresario was … Continue reading →

Posted in Amusements, Media, Prominent figures, Sports and recreation | Leave a comment

Nellie Revell, publicist, author & celebrity

Posted on February 2, 2016 by editor

As a young vaudevillian, the story goes, Nellie Revell punched out George M. Cohan. Decades later, Cohan hosted a Friars Club benefit for Revell – a first for a woman. He also was among hundreds of celebrities who lined up … Continue reading →

Posted in Arts and letters, Journalism, Media, Women | 8 Comments

Richard Kinsella (baseball scout, team owner)

Posted on December 3, 2015 by editor

Richard “Sinister Dick” Kinsella (1862-1939) was a semi-pro baseball player, owner of Springfield’s Three-I League team and a well-known local politician. But he was famous nationally as the right-hand man of John J. McGraw, the Hall of Fame manager of … Continue reading →

Posted in Amusements, Local government, Media | 2 Comments

Radio beginnings in Springfield

Posted on October 30, 2015 by editor

Two boyhood friends turned radio pioneers brought Springfield its first permanent radio station in 1926. That station, whose original call letters were WCBS, broadcast its first program, a test featuring Alfred Blankschen, organist at Springfield’s Lyric Theater, on Dec. 10, … Continue reading →

Posted in Amusements, Media, Prominent figures | 5 Comments

Illinois State Informer (newspaper)

Posted on October 19, 2015 by editor

The Illinois State Informer was a weekly newspaper founded by Dr. Alonzo Kenniebrew, a nationally prominent black physician, in the mid-1930s in Springfield. Kenniebrew (1875-1943), a graduate of Tuskegee Institute and close friend of Tuskegee founder Booker T. Washington, had moved to … Continue reading →

Posted in African Americans, Arts and letters, Ethnic groups, Journalism, Media, Prominent figures | 3 Comments

Telephone service begins, 1878

Posted on October 6, 2015 by editor

This entry has been updated and expanded. The first telephone conversation in Springfield took place on Feb. 28, 1878, over a line between the city office of Western Union, Sixth and Monroe streets, and the company’s branch office at the … Continue reading →

Posted in Media | 4 Comments