Search entries
-
Recent Posts
Recent Comments
- Louis Kink on Frank Zito and the Zito brothers (organized crime)
- Jim Marcacci on Frank Zito and the Zito brothers (organized crime)
- Jim Marcacci on Frank Zito and the Zito brothers (organized crime)
- peter Bubnis on John W. Hobbs Corp.
- Stephanie on Franklin Life Insurance Co.
Archives
- October 2024
- September 2024
- August 2024
- July 2024
- June 2024
- May 2024
- April 2024
- March 2024
- February 2024
- January 2024
- December 2023
- November 2023
- October 2023
- September 2023
- August 2023
- July 2023
- June 2023
- May 2023
- April 2023
- March 2023
- February 2023
- January 2023
- December 2022
- November 2022
- October 2022
- September 2022
- August 2022
- July 2022
- June 2022
- May 2022
- April 2022
- March 2022
- February 2022
- January 2022
- December 2021
- November 2021
- October 2021
- September 2021
- August 2021
- July 2021
- June 2021
- May 2021
- April 2021
- March 2021
- February 2021
- January 2021
- December 2020
- November 2020
- October 2020
- September 2020
- August 2020
- July 2020
- June 2020
- May 2020
- April 2020
- March 2020
- February 2020
- January 2020
- December 2019
- November 2019
- October 2019
- September 2019
- August 2019
- July 2019
- June 2019
- May 2019
- April 2019
- March 2019
- February 2019
- January 2019
- December 2018
- November 2018
- October 2018
- September 2018
- August 2018
- July 2018
- June 2018
- May 2018
- April 2018
- March 2018
- February 2018
- January 2018
- December 2017
- November 2017
- October 2017
- September 2017
- August 2017
- July 2017
- June 2017
- May 2017
- April 2017
- March 2017
- February 2017
- January 2017
- December 2016
- November 2016
- October 2016
- September 2016
- August 2016
- July 2016
- June 2016
- May 2016
- April 2016
- March 2016
- February 2016
- January 2016
- December 2015
- November 2015
- October 2015
- September 2015
- August 2015
- July 2015
- June 2015
- May 2015
- April 2015
- March 2015
- February 2015
- January 2015
- December 2014
- November 2014
- October 2014
- September 2014
- August 2014
- July 2014
- June 2014
- May 2014
- April 2014
- March 2014
- February 2014
- January 2014
- December 2013
- November 2013
- October 2013
- July 2013
- May 2013
- April 2013
- March 2013
Categories
- Abolitionism
- African Americans
- Agriculture
- Air travel
- Airport
- Amusements
- Animals
- Architecture
- Arts and letters
- Auto dealers
- Breweries
- Buildings
- Business
- Celebrations
- Children
- Churches
- Coal mines and mining
- Communications
- Communities
- Crime and vice
- Department stores
- Depression
- Disasters
- Early residents
- Education
- Environment
- Ethnic groups
- Family life
- Farming
- Fever River
- Fires
- First Citizens
- Germans
- Greeks
- Grocery markets
- Higher education
- Historic Sites
- Histories
- Hotels & taverns
- Illinois capital
- Illinois State Fair
- Illustrations
- Industry
- Irish
- Irish
- Italians
- Japanese
- Jewish
- John T. Stuart
- Journalism
- Labor unions
- Law enforcement
- Lincoln Home
- Lincoln Tomb
- Lincoln, Abraham
- Lindsay, Vachel
- Lithuanians
- Lithuanians
- Local government
- Maps
- Markers
- Media
- Medicine
- Military
- Mills
- Museums
- National Register
- Native Americans
- Oak Ridge signs
- Parks
- Photos and photosets
- Politics
- Portuguese
- Prehistory
- Presidential candidates
- Presidents
- Prominent figures
- Public health
- Race riot of 1908
- Railroads
- Resources
- Restaurants
- Route 66
- Sangamon County
- Sangamon River
- Schools and school districts
- Science
- Slovenians
- Social life
- Social services
- Soil
- Spanish
- Spectacles
- Sports and recreation
- Springfield
- Springfield Survey
- State government
- Swabians
- Theaters
- Transportation
- Uncategorized
- Videos
- Weather
- Women
Blogroll
Category Archives: Ethnic groups
Springfield High School sketches, 1930 (Alda Raulin)
Alda Raulin captured classic views of Springfield High School in five line drawings that led off the 1930 edition of The Capitoline, … Continue reading
Albert Giles, ‘Hero or Villain’?
Albert Giles, a Black sharecropper from Arkansas, was sentenced to death in connection with what is known as “the Elaine Massacre,” one of the bloodiest racial conflicts in U.S. history. Giles served four years on death row before the charges … Continue reading
Posted in African Americans, Crime and vice
Leave a comment
Lucy Rountree and family
For the past 30 years, the story of Thomas Jefferson and his relationship with the enslaved Sally Hemmings has gained America’s attention through books, movies, and the integration of Jefferson’s descendants, both white and African-American, at family reunions. Unfortunately, Sally’s … Continue reading
Posted in African Americans, Early residents, Family life, Women
1 Comment
The Hammerslough/Rosenwald family, clothiers
The Capitol Clothing House opened in Springfield in 1856 with the slogan “Low Prices and Good Goods.” Aside from providing inexpensive, ready-to-wear clothes to pre-Civil War Springfield, the Capitol Clothing House is the reason Springfield can boast that it was … Continue reading
Hebrew Ground, Oak Ridge Cemetery
“Hebrew Ground” at Oak Ridge Cemetery is the resting place of 342 early Jewish settlers to Springfield and Central Illinois. It is marked by a plaque, dedicated in September 2023, that sits in front of the graves of Springfield’s first … Continue reading
Springfield hotels turn away Black singing group, 1881
Springfield hotels refused to house America’s best-known Black choral group in 1881. The result was nationwide condemnation, a rebuke from President James A. Garfield, and a scramble by embarrassed local residents to repair the city’s reputation. The group was the … Continue reading
Coney Island restaurant
On a sunny April day in 1989, hungry Springfieldians lined up to savor a hot dog from the Coney Island Restaurant at 114 N. Sixth St. The line, which wrapped around the block, included citizens from all walks of life, … Continue reading
Posted in Business, Celebrations, Ethnic groups, Greeks, Prominent figures, Restaurants
4 Comments
Sam Willis, chef
Thousands of African-Americans fled Springfield in the wake of the 1908 race riot. The city’s best chef may have been one. Samuel Willis (1856-1920), a native of Virginia, moved to Springfield in the 1870s. He apparently learned the restaurant business … Continue reading
Posted in African Americans, Business, Prominent figures, Restaurants, Uncategorized
6 Comments
Dreamland Park/Amos Duncan
“To my way of thinking, the colored people should at least have a place where they can congregate for the purpose of holding picnics, celebrations and public gatherings,” Sangamon County Republican Party chairman George Fish told the Illinois State Journal … Continue reading
Robert Preston Taylor (Lincoln College of Law, Illinois State Museum)
By one measurement, Robert Preston Taylor (1876-1951) goes into history as the first African-American graduate of the old Lincoln College of Law in Springfield. But that would ignore Taylor’s more significant achievement: bringing to life exhibits at the Illinois State … Continue reading
Posted in African Americans, Education, Higher education, Museums, Prominent figures
2 Comments