Monthly Archives: May 2022

First school for Black children

Posted on May 31, 2022 by editor

Springfield’s Colored Baptist Church created what apparently was the city’s first school open to African-American children in the late 1840s. It was a struggle to keep open, but it took a decade before the city finally opened a public school … Continue reading →

Posted in African Americans, Children, Churches, Education, Local government, Schools and school districts | Leave a comment

Andrew McFarland (mental hospital administrator)

Posted on May 28, 2022 by editor

Update: On Aug. 9, 2023, Gov. J.B. Pritzker renamed the former Andrew McFarland Mental Health Center the Elizabeth Parsons Ware Packard Mental Health Center. Read the news release here. This entry has been lightly edited to reflect the change, as … Continue reading →

Posted in Medicine, Social services, Women | 3 Comments

Sherwood subdivision

Posted on May 25, 2022 by editor

“A home in Sherwood is an investment in happiness,” Vredenburgh Lumber Co. promised when it marketed its new development in the 1960s. It was an effective pitch: In 2022, Sherwood was the largest single-family-home subdivision in Springfield. Sherwood’s 656 homes … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Comments

Covid-19: History in the making

Posted on May 19, 2022 by editor

At least three local institutions are documenting the Covid-19 pandemic and its impact on individuals in Illinois as it happens. Representatives of all three gave presentations May 17, 2022, to the Sangamon County Historical Society. Results from two of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Disasters, Medicine, Public health, Resources, Science | Leave a comment

Lincoln circuit marker, Sangamon-Christian county line

Posted on May 16, 2022 by editor

Down a tiny back road southeast of Breckenridge, out of view but within earshot of Illinois 29, stands a century-old monument to the legal career of Abraham Lincoln. Nearly forgotten today, it is one of three dozen markers the Daughters … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Historic Sites, Lincoln, Abraham, Markers | 2 Comments

Comer Cox, Urban League leader

Posted on May 12, 2022 by editor

Comer Cox, the namesake of Comer Cox Park in Springfield, was an Alabama native and star athlete in his  youth who went on to lead the Springfield Urban League. Comer Lane Cox was born May 9, 1905, in Athens, Ala. … Continue reading →

Posted in African Americans, Business, Parks, Prominent figures, Social services | 1 Comment

Benjamin Stephenson and the Grand Army of the Republic

Posted on May 9, 2022 by editor

Update: The Grand Army of the Republic Memorial Museum, mentioned in this entry and featured in photos above and below, closed in 2023. Its collection was moved to the Gen. John A. Logan Museum in Murphysboro. Somewhere in Mississippi in … Continue reading →

Posted in Military, Museums, Prominent figures | Leave a comment

Joseph Ludgate, “long distance singer”

Posted on May 4, 2022 by editor

The “champion long distance singer of the world” called Springfield home for about four months in 1895. Joseph C. Ludgate (1864-1947) arrived in December 1894 to command the local corps of the Salvation Army “with a history,” the Illinois State … Continue reading →

Posted in Churches, Spectacles | Leave a comment