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Category Archives: Arts and letters
Kerasotes Theatres
A candy-store-turned nickelodeon in Springfield was the starting point for what for a time was the sixth-largest theater chain in the U.S. Brothers Gus (1873-1960) and Louis Kerasotes, both Greek immigrants, converted Gus’s confectionery at 214 S. Sixth St. into the … Continue reading
Edward Levanius
Edward Levanius (1877-1970) ,who worked in Springfield for more than 65 years, was a master of tombstone art. Born in Landskrona, Sweden, Levanius immigrated to the United States at the age of 16. Before he moved to Springfield, Levanius lived in … Continue reading
Lincoln Home, 1918
One of 25 sketches by Lester Hornby that are included in Lincoln in Illinois by Octavia Roberts (1918). Hornby, a founder of the Rockport (Me.) Art Colony, was an illustrator, lithographer, watercolor artist and war correspondent in World War I. … Continue reading
Posted in Arts and letters, Lincoln Home, Lincoln, Abraham, Photos and photosets
Tagged Octavia Roberts
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Lincoln Memorial Garden and Nature Center
Envisioned by Harriet Knudson in 1936, Lincoln Memorial Garden was created as a living memorial to Abraham Lincoln, representing “the landscape … Lincoln would have known growing up and living in the Midwest.” The 100-acre garden on the banks of … Continue reading
Posted in Arts and letters, First Citizens, Parks, Prehistory, Prominent figures, Social services, Women
Tagged Harriett Knudson, Oral history
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‘Springfield Magical’ (Vachel Lindsay)
“City of my discontent” summarizes in a phrase Vachel Lindsay‘s conflicted relationship with his home town. The poem that includes that line, “Springfield Magical,” was contained in Lindsay’s collection “General William Booth Enters into Heaven, and other poems,” 1919. In … Continue reading
Posted in Arts and letters, Lindsay, Vachel, Springfield
Tagged Lindsay on Springfield
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‘Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight’ (Vachel Lindsay)
Vachel Lindsay‘s best-known poem, “Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight,” was included in his collection The Congo and Other Poems. The collection was published in 1914, and “Walks” is eerily prescient about the disaster World War I would become. Abraham Lincoln … Continue reading
Posted in Arts and letters, Lincoln, Abraham, Lindsay, Vachel, Springfield
Tagged Lindsay on Springfield, World War I
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‘The Golden Book of Springfield’ (Vachel Lindsay)
The Golden Book of Springfield, Vachel Lindsay’s only novel, published in 1920, outlined Lindsay’s ethereal, mythopoetic expectations for the city of Springfield a century hence. (One of the few concrete predictions in Lindsay’s highly metaphorical view of the city’s future … Continue reading
‘On the Building of Springfield’ (Vachel Lindsay)
Poet Vachel Lindsay was confounded — not to say obsessed — with his hometown of Springfield. Some of his best-known lines about the city are contained in his 1908 poem, “On the Building of Springfield.” LET not our town be … Continue reading
Posted in Arts and letters, Lindsay, Vachel, Springfield
Tagged Lindsay on Springfield
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Guy Mathis
Guy Mathis (1866-1932) was a ground-breaking photographer and automobile entrepreneur in Springfield. Mathis is best remembered today for his photography. In addition to opening the city’s first camera shop in the late 18990s, Mathis took hundreds of photos himself, with … Continue reading
Posted in Arts and letters, Business, Media, Prominent figures, Transportation
Tagged Auto dealers, Auto industry, Photographers
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Larkin Mead, Lincoln Tomb designer
Larkin Mead (1835-1910), who designed the Lincoln Tomb State Historic Site, got his artistic start from a snow angel. Not the kind children make by lying down in snow, but an 8-foot-tall, highly detailed snow statue of the biblical Recording … Continue reading
Posted in Arts and letters, Buildings, Historic Sites, Lincoln, Abraham, Museums, Presidents
Tagged Lincoln Tomb
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