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Blogroll
Category Archives: Ethnic groups
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
Ethnic Festival (1974-2014)
Where could you go for a bowl of Polish biogs and a side of Irish soda bread, Lithuanian kugelis and a plate of nutty rugelach, some Greek spanakopita and then top it off with homemade German apfelstrudel? The Ethnic Festival … Continue reading
Posted in Amusements, Celebrations, Ethnic groups, Social life
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German newspapers
German-language newspapers came and went for more than 60 years in Springfield. Abe Lincoln even had a hand in one. But the Staats Wochenblatt had staying power. German immigration to the U.S. took off after the failure of the German … Continue reading
Lincoln Tomb streetcar line (1880)
The Lincoln Tomb State Historic Site is a mile-and-a-half from downtown Springfield. That distance isn’t a problem in the 21st century, but it was a considerable obstacle when the tomb was new 150 years earlier. Distance was a big reason … Continue reading
First Black U of I trustee
This entry has been updated and corrected. See below. John J. Bird became the first African-American trustee of the University of Illinois at a time when the school was essentially all-white. Bird’s tombstone in Oak Ridge Cemetery doesn’t mention that … Continue reading
First school for Black children
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
Comer Cox, Urban League leader
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
The Krehbiel murals (Illinois Supreme Court)
The first public art Albert Krehbiel created apparently was on the buggies, carriages and delivery wagons his father manufactured in Iowa. His most famous works, however, are the 13 allegorical murals that decorate the Illinois Supreme Court Building in Springfield. … Continue reading
Statehouse entrance revamped (1885-86)
For the first decade of its existence, people entering the east doors of the Illinois Statehouse had to stagger up a massive “grand staircase” to the building’s second floor. That changed in the 1880s, thanks to what was cutting-edge technology … Continue reading