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Charles Messter was a co-founder of WCBS, Springfield’s first permanent radio station. See Radio beginnings in Springfield.

Harold Dewing was a co-founder of WCBS, Springfield’s first permanent radio station. See Radio beginnings in Springfield. 

Millions of Jolly Boy kites, manufactured by the J.C. Ayling Kite Co. in Springfield, were sold between about 1911 and the early 1940s. See J.C. Ayling Kite Co.

Miss Nellie Hughes was librarian at Lincoln Library’s North Branch from its founding in 1926 until her retirement in 1972. See North Side State Bank collapse, 1927.

Lincoln Library’s North Branch was in a former bank building at 719-21 North Grand Ave. E. from 1931 until 2005. See North Side State Bank collapse, 1927.

Music educator E. Carl Lundgren was the main force behind creation of the Springfield Muni Opera. See that entry.

Tom Shrewsbury was among a group of civic and arts leaders who revived the Springfield Muni Opera in the 1960s. See Springfield Muni Opera.

Frank Sherry, then 26, assaulted eight people with a hammer in Springfield on Aug. 4, 1975, killing two. See Hammer attacks, 1975.

Harry Knotts operated a powerful wireless telegraphy station at Illiopolis that originated the first radio-transmitted weather reports.