Leigh Morris

The Illinois last invaded downtown Beardstown in October of 1926. (CIPS Photo, Leigh Morris collection.)

Looking Back – The great Illinois 

Illinois is a state, but “the Illinois” only can describe the great river that runs 271 miles from its source to the Mississippi at Grafton.

It is not the nation’s longest river nor its widest. The slow moving Illinois is anything but wild – though she does have her moments. 

The Illinois would not even be navigable for most of her length much of the year were it not for dredging and the locks and dams. In fact, long before the dams and the runoff from cities and untold acreage covered by asphalt and concrete, there were places were a man could easily walk from one bank to another during the summer months.

Looking Back – Dime stores, glass bottles and more

Mention the dime store, glass milk bottles and Black Jack gum to even a thirty-something and you’ll likely be met with a blank stare.

Well, let’s take a stroll down memory lane and see what you remember.

Dime Stores: Before Wal-Mart, Kmart, Shopko and such, the five-and-ten-cent store – or just plain “dime store” – was the king of retail. Not only did small towns have them, but a dime store once held a prominent spot on Chicago’s famed North Michigan Avenue.

Virginia O’Hanlon and Frank Church with the New York Sun editorial. (Archival photo.)

Looking Back – Virginia, there is a Santa Claus

This is a story about faith, love, beauty and romance. Though this story is well over a hundred years old, I believe you will find it as enjoyable today as those who first read it in the closing years of the 19th century.

I hope you will share this story with others. It serves as a beacon of hope in these troubling times. 

In 1897, little Virginia O’Hanlon wrote the following letter to the New York Sun:

A southbound Gulf, Mobile & Ohio freight speeds by the Iles Junction tower, the site of the 1912 attempted train robbery. The tower has been removed and the rail line is now part of the Union Pacific system.

Looking Back – Train robbers in Springfield

It had the ingredients found in a dime novel: an express train, determined robbers, a sheriff’s posse, dynamite and even nitroglycerin. And it all happened at Springfield on Christmas Eve of 1912.Back then, The Hummer was a Chicago & Alton Railroad express train that ran between the Windy City and Kansas City via Springfield. Among railroaders, The Hummer was known as a “heavy money train.”

USS Arizona on Dec. 7, 1941

Japan bombs, U.S. declares war

anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, recall the words of President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered to a joint session of Congress

Dec. 7th, 1941

“Mr. Vice President, Mr. Speaker, Members of the Senate, and of the House of Representatives:

“Yesterday, December 7th, 1941 – a date which will live in infamy – the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.

Walter Cronkite

Looking Back – When the news media was trusted

This may come as a surprise to younger readers, but there was a time when most people placed strong trust in the news media.

In survey results released earlier this year by Gallup and the Knight Foundation as reported by the Associated Press, half of those surveyed “believe national news organizations intend to mislead, misinform or persuade the public to adopt a particular point of view through their reporting.”

Lore “King” Bader

Looking Back – A King, ice cream, rock and Braves

While researching a topic, I often stumble upon something I wasn’t searching for but nonetheless found it to be of interest. Here’s a few I’ve collected over the yearsLet’s begin in Bader over in Schuyler County. Located about four miles north of Browning, Bader began life as Osceola in 1870. The name was changed to Baders in 1872, honoring William Bader who operated the grain elevator. A U.S. Post Office opened on Oct. 8, 1972, the same year the community’s name was changed to Bader.

Looking Back – Low-income kids lose

Two weeks ago, Illinois became the first state to abolish a major school-choice initiative. This was a moment of great sadness for my native state.

Thanks to seven Illinois Democratic members of Congress, Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Democratic House Speaker Chris Welch, Democratic Senate President Don Harmon, and teachers unions, 10,000 low-income students will lose their school-choice scholarships provided through the Invest in Kids initiative.

Reverend Philander Chase

Looking Back – Illinois’ frontier seminary 

Illinois became a state in 1818, but was still very much a frontier state in the 1830s. 

Illinois’ rough and tumble frontier status did not deter Rev. Philander Chase from planning to open a theological seminary on the prairie. As the first bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Illinois, Chase was in a position to turn his dream into a reality.

President John F. Kennedy

Looking Back – Courage and the lack thereof

Courage. Once, it was a quality we expected in our leaders. President Herbert Hoover put it this way:

    “The imperative need of this nation at all times is the leadership of uncommon men or women.”

Our Founding Fathers were uncommon men who exemplified courage. Benjamin Franklin summed up that courage shortly after signing the Declaration of Independence:

    “We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately.”

    Those patriots had put everything on the line – property, status, personal freedom and even their lives –  by declaring independence from Great Britain.