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Category Archives: Arts and letters
Illinois State Museum
The Illinois State Museum began, unlikely as it seems, in New Harmony, Ind. Former museum director R. Bruce McMillan described the quandary that faced Illinois’ first state geologist in his article on the museum’s centennial , “The First Century,” published … Continue reading
Women’s literary clubs
The literary club movement began early in the 19th century as a consequence of the Industrial Revolution. The first recorded occurrence was a lecture series started in Milbury, Mass., in 1826. By 1834, 3,000 groups had been organized to listen … Continue reading
John Carroll Power (historian, Lincoln tomb custodian)
John Carroll Power (1819-94), was a historian as well as first custodian of the Lincoln Tomb. Born in Kentucky in 1819, Power “was brought up a farmer, but in later life, contrary to his early anticipations, became an author,” according … Continue reading
The Mansion, Riverton
The Mansion was a nightclub and music venue on the grounds of Wheeland Haven, the former estate of Olive Black Wheeland east of Riverton. It was destroyed by fire in 1992. For more information, see entry on Wheeland Haven.
Posted in Arts and letters
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Seth Barnes Nicholson (astronomer)
Seth Barnes Nicholson (1891-1963), an astronomer best known for discovering four of the satellites of Jupiter, was born in Springfield, although his family left the city when Seth was seven years old. Nicholson’s father, William, was principal of the old … Continue reading
Posted in Arts and letters
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A.J. Liebling on Lincoln’s presence in Springfield (1950)
A.J. Liebling (1904-63), noted essayist and press critic for The New Yorker magazine, visited Springfield in 1950 for the first article in a New Yorker series on the Lincoln tradition. Among those Liebling interviewed were George “Gib” Bunn Jr., Gertrude … Continue reading
Posted in Arts and letters, Lincoln, Abraham, Prominent figures, Springfield
Tagged Gertrude Masters, Gib Bunn, Murray Hanes
2 Comments
Springfield Ceramics and Crafts Club
The Springfield Ceramics and Crafts Club was founded on May 21, 1924, as the Springfield Ceramics Club. The charter membership was made up of 12 women, and the first president was Mrs. Lewis Minor, who had inspired the startup at … Continue reading
Under the Gas-Light: Or Lights and Shadows in the State Capital of Illinois
Under the Gas-Light: Or Lights and Shadows in the State Capital of Illinois (1879) is a collection of 31 essays originallywritten as “Rambles” in the Sangamo Monitor, a Springfield newspaper published from the 1870s into the 1890s. The writer of the … Continue reading
Posted in Arts and letters, Journalism, Military, Prominent figures
Tagged Sangamo Monitor
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1850s Springfield, in four mysterious paintings
The four paintings below show all four sides of the Springfield square in the late 1840s or early 1850s. They are unusual in two ways: their perspective, presumably from the cupola of what now is the Old State Capitol; and … Continue reading