Celebrating Black History in IDHH Collections

The IDHH contains some content that may be harmful or difficult to view. Our cultural heritage partners collect materials from history, as well as artifacts from many cultures and time periods, to preserve and make available the historical record. Please view the Digital Public Library of America’s (DPLA) Statement on Potentially Harmful Content for further information.


In recognition of Black History Month, the IDHH would like to highlight several collections from our contributors and curated searches of IDHH items that tell different stories about the history of Black people in Illinois:

    • Gwendolyn Brooks: explore photographs related to Gwendolyn Brooks, Poet Laureate of Illinois and the first African American poet to win the Pulitzer Prize.
    • EBR African American Cultural Life (Southern Illinois University Edwardsville): a collection containing photographs, posters, and pamphlets centered around Eugene B. Redmond, Poet Laureate of East St. Louis whose work is connected to the Black Arts Movement and Professor Emeritus at SIUE.
    • EBR Million Man March (Southern Illinois University Edwardsville): a collection containing photographs about the Million Man March, a demonstration by Black men marching to Washington on October 16, 1995,  and its second Anniversary celebration.
    • Timuel D. Black, Jr., Digital Collection (Chicago Public Library): a collection containing handwritten and typed letters and speeches by Timuel D. Black, Jr., civil rights activist, educator, and historian of Black life and politics in Chicago.

You can also learn more about Mayor Harold Washington, the Black Mayor of Chicago, through the IDHH’s Digital Exhibit on Mayor Washington and Primary Source Set on Mayor Washington.

You can also view the IDHH’s previous Black History Month posts:

 

IDHH Welcomes New Contributor, Chicago Theological Seminary!

With our most recent harvest, the IDHH welcomes a new contributor, Chicago Theological Seminary! Established in 1855, Chicago Theological Seminary is a multi-faith seminary affiliated with the United Church of Christ and committed to “racial and social justice, to gender equality and LGBTQ rights, and to deep interreligious engagement.”¹ This new contributor shares with the IDHH two new collections: Triennial Conventions and Challenge and Response.

Triennial Conventions features the minutes and proceedings of the Triennial Conventions, a convention of the Ministers and Delegates of the Congregational Churches in the Midwest held every three years in association with the Chicago Theological Seminary. The collection contains the Triennial Conventions from 1858 through 1930.

Title page of the proceedings of the 1st Triennial Convention in October 1858
1st Triennial Convention, October 1858 [page 2]. 1858. Chicago Theological Seminary. Triennial Conventions. Courtesy of Chicago Theological Seminary.
Minutes page of the proceedings of the 1st Triennial Convention in October 1858
1st Triennial Convention, October 1858 [page 4]. 1858. Chicago Theological Seminary. Triennial Conventions. Courtesy of Chicago Theological Seminary.
Challenge and Response features the flagship magazine, Challenge & Response, published by the CTS Office of Advancement beginning in 2012. The magazine publishes news from the seminary faculty and staff, as well as students and alums.

Cover of Chicago Theological Seminary's Challenge & Response Fall 2012 magazine
Challenge & Response Fall 2012 [page 1]. 2012. Chicago Theological Seminary. Challenge and Response. Courtesy of Chicago Theological Seminary.
¹ From Chicago Theological Seminary’s Statement of Mission & Commitments.


Want to see more?

Visit the IDHH to view all items from Chicago Theological Seminary.

New IDHH Collections from Des Plaines Public Library

With our most recent harvest, the IDHH has added nine new collections! Today we’re highlighting two collections from the Des Plaines Public Library: City of Destiny and Greetings from Des Plaines.

City of Destiny features items that tell the story of Des Plaines’s governmental growth from a nineteenth-century village to a modern city. These items include governmental and public buildings, portraits of elected officials, newspaper clippings, events such as planting trees for Arbor Day, and even sheet music with fifty reasons that “You Will Like Des Plaines!”

Printed title page of the Revised Ordinances of the Village of Des Plaines that were passed on December 7, 1885.
Revised Ordinances of the Village of Des Plaines [page 2]. 1886. Des Plaines Public Library. City of Destiny. Courtesy of the Des Plaines Public Library.
Second page of sheet music for the song You Will Like Des Plaines that includes a list of 50 reason why people like Des Plaines.
You Will Like Des Plaines, Sheet Music [page 2]. 1924. Des Plaines Public Library. City of Destiny. Courtesy of the Des Plaines Public Library.
Greetings from Des Plaines is a collection of postcards, featuring buildings and scenic views in Des Plaines as well as Chicago. Though some postcards are unsent and blank, many are postmarked with stories of the people who sent and received them.

Postcard image of storefronts on historic Main Street in Des Plaines, Illinois.
Main Street W. from Pearson Street. c. 1900. Des Plaines Public Library. Greetings from Des Plaines. Courtesy of the Des Plaines Public Library.

Postcard image of the Des Plaines Public Library in 1916.
Des Plaines Public Library, 1916 [front]. March 31, 1916. Des Plaines Public Library. Greetings from Des Plaines. Courtesy of the Des Plaines Public Library.
Postmarked postcard with handwritten note.
Des Plaines Public Library, 1916 [back]. March 31, 1916. Des Plaines Public Library. Greetings from Des Plaines. Courtesy of the Des Plaines Public Library. The postcard sender hopes to see the recipient soon, to share some “pretty useful” crochet patterns.


Want to see more?

Visit the IDHH to view more postcards from the Greetings from Des Plaines collection, or to browse all items from Des Plaines Public Library.

New IDHH Collections on Enslavement Documents and Yearbooks

The IDHH contains some content that may be harmful or difficult to view. Our cultural heritage partners collect materials from history, as well as artifacts from many cultures and time periods, to preserve and make available the historical record. Please view the Digital Public Library of America’s (DPLA) Statement on Potentially Harmful Content for further information.


With our most recent harvest, the IDHH has added nine new collections! Today we’re highlighting two of them: North American Enslavement Documents from the Chicago History Museum and Yearbooks from the Illinois Institute of Technology.

The Chicago History Museum’s North American Enslavement Documents collection contains late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century items related to enslavement in primarily the United States. These include bills of sale for enslaved people and letters between slave owners as well as deeds of emancipation and letters regarding the activities of antislavery groups and underground railways.

Interested in transcribing? The Chicago History Museum, in partnership with the Smithsonian’s Robert Frederick Smith internship program, are working to transcribe materials relating primarily to chattel slavery in the United States. You can visit their transcription site to help transcribe these documents.

Deed of emancipation by William Garnett freeing his eight slaves due to his belief that slavery is wrong in principle and practice.
William Garnett deed of emancipation, 1845 October 17. October 17, 1845. Chicago Historical Society. North American Enslavement Documents. Courtesy of the Chicago History Museum.

Letter from John M. Roberts to Zebina Eastman accounting the activities of the anti-slavery group, formation of the society, and underground railway established from St. Louis, circa 1842.
Underground Railway letter, circa 1842 [page 1]. c. 1842. Chicago Historical Society. North American Enslavement Documents. Courtesy of the Chicago History Museum.
The Illinois Institute of Technology’s Yearbooks collection features yearbooks of the Armour Institute of Technology (AIT) published from 1898 until 1940, when AIT merged with the Lewis Institute to form the Illinois Institute of Technology. These yearbooks document the academic and social life of AIT and offers a view into the history of AIT and its founder as well as academic institutions during times of national hardship and war.

The Yearbooks collection complements the Illinois Institute of Technology’s Lewis Annual collection, which features the yearbooks of the Lewis Institute published between 1903 and 1940.

Page from the 1898 Armour Institute of Technology yearbook describing the history of the institute
Integral, 1898 [page 32]. 1898. Illinois Institute of Technology. Yearbooks. Courtesy of the Illinois Institute of Technology.
Page from the 1918 Armour Institute of Technology yearbook describing the military drills students underwent during the First World War.
The Cycle, 1918 [page 117]. 1918. Illinois Institute of Technology. Yearbooks. Courtesy of the Illinois Institute of Technology.
A page from the Armour Institute of Technology 1909 yearbook with the librarian Mrs. Julia A Beveridge and students studying in the library at desks.
Integral, 1909 [page 29]. 1909. Illinois Institute of Technology. Yearbooks. Courtesy of the Illinois Institute of Technology.

DPLA Launches The Banned Book Club

In response to book bans across the United States, the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) has launched The Banned Book Club. Through the Palace e-reader app, The Banned Book Club uses GPS-based geo-targeting to make available free e-book versions of banned books to readers in US locations where the titles have been banned.

To download the app, follow these instructions from the DPLA News release:

To access The Banned Book Club now, download the Palace app and choose “Banned Book Club” as your library, then follow the prompts to sign up for a free virtual library card. For more specific instructions, click here.

For more information about The Banned Book Club, you can view the DPLA News Release or visit TheBannedBookClub.info.


Glass plate slide reads Books for Everybody: the Aim of the American Library Association
Books for Everybody. 1918. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library. McLean County Museum of History. American Library Association Archives Digital Collections. Courtesy of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library.

Glass plate slide reads "It is the responsibility of the American Library Association to encourage and promote the development of library services for every man, woman, and child in America."
Library Services for every Man, Woman and Child. 1918. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library. McLean County Museum of History. American Library Association Archives Digital Collections. Courtesy of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library.

Happy New Year and Welcome Back!

Happy New Year, everyone!

Over the break, the IDHH Highlights moved to a new server.  Our new URL is https://www.library.illinois.edu/idhh-highlights/

If you forget to update your bookmarks or old relinks, don’t worry! The old URL redirects, so you can still find the IDHH Highlights blog and learn about our collections and items that are relevant to Illinois and national history, world events, and interesting topics.

Interested in other ways to explore the collections and items in the IDHH? You can:

  • Visit the IDHH Exhibits site to see digital exhibits curated from items in the IDHH and covering topics important to Illinois History and relevant to current and historical events
  • Browse our IDHH Primary Source Sets for primary source collections curated from items in the IDHH, which cover topics relevant to Illinois educational standard and include teaching guides for in-class use
  • Visit the IDHH site to search or browse all items in the IDHH, or click on one of the curated searches on the home page for examples of the breadth of items within the IDHH

GOAL! Soccer from Illinois to the World Stage

The fairly simple sport of soccer, known internationally as football, is the world’s most popular ball game in numbers of participants and spectators. With the 2022 Men’s FIFA World Cup currently in play, the IDHH would like to highlight the sport of soccer and its rise in popularity in the United States. Soccer was brought to North America by European immigrants in the 1860s, with informal matches being contested by Canadian and American teams by the mid-1880s. Already a pastime with a devoted audience and professional associations in Britain, soccer was not immediately popular in Canada or the United States, as ice hockey and gridiron football (American football) were becoming more prominent respectively. 

However, American cities with large immigrant populations, such as Philadelphia, Chicago, and New York City, saw the sport played widely, and led to the official formation of the United States Soccer Federation in 1913. Over the first half of the 20th century, soccer’s popularity in the United States would steadily rise without ever truly finding a regular fan base. The sport’s fortunes would shift in the 1960s and ‘70s, though, as American teams began signing international players, such as the Brazilian athlete Pelé, and the passage of Title IX in 1972 further encouraged the participation of female players. Viewed as less violent and more socially inclusive than American football, soccer benefited from an influx of younger soccer players in the 1980s and ‘90s. The United States would host the 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup, setting an all-time attendance record as the U.S. women’s team led by Mia Hamm clinched the Cup. In the last two decades, soccer has solidified itself as a significant sport in the United States, with the creation of various national soccer associations and leagues, and a devoted following of American teams on the international stage. 

Here are a few of our favorite soccer items:

Illinois State Normal University Women’s Sports Day, Normal, IL, 1935. October 12, 1935. Photographed by Frank Bill. McLean County Museum of History. Pantagraph Negatives Collection, 1930 – 1939. Courtesy of the McLean County Museum of History.
Soccer football 1906-1907. 1906. Photographed by Allen Ayrault Green. Knox College. Allen Ayrault Green Photograph Collection. Courtesy of Knox College.
Women’s soccer. 1992. Knox College. The Way to Knox. Courtesy of Knox College.
Women’s Athletic Association – Soccer. 1937. Millikin University. Big Blue Photograph Collection. Courtesy of Millikin University.
Soccer – Men’s – Players – Kroening. [n.d.] Millikin University. Big Blue Photograph Collection. Courtesy of Millikin University.
Congressman Frank Annunzio and the Polish soccer team. 1976. Photographed by Copelin Commercial Photographers. University of Illinois Chicago. Congressman Frank Annunzio Photo Collection. Courtesy of the University of Illinois Chicago.

Want to see more? 

Visit the IDHH to browse even more items related to the sport of soccer.

Small Town with a Big Story: Marshall Public Library

Near the Illinois border with Indiana lies the town of Marshall, the county seat of Clark County, Illinois. Boasting a history much bigger than its size might suggest, the IDHH is pleased to feature the Marshall Public Library Digital Archive as one of our newest additions to the Illinois Digital Heritage Hub. Marshall traces its founding to 1835, when Illinois politician and businessman William B. Archer officially organized what would be the beginnings of the city. Marshall took the surname of a Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, John Marshall, as its namesake and would be incorporated as a city in 1873. Situated along the National Road, the first major improved highway built by the federal government in the early 1800s, Marshall saw thousands of settlers pass through on their travels to the West.

The city would play host to a variety of notable persons over its nearly 200-hundred-year history, with Abraham Lincoln being a frequent visitor of Marshall during his time as a lawyer. Marshall was also the temporary home of James Jones, best-selling author and winner of the 1952 National Book Award for his novel From Here to Eternity. Jones helped found the Handy Writers’ Colony in 1950 with Lowney Turner Handy and her husband, Harry Handy. A demanding teacher, Lowney Handy would have her students spend many hours copying, by hand or typewriter, materials from authors whose work she admired. The Colony would eventually dissolve after operating for 14 years, but not before seeing several of The Colony writers such as John Bowers and Charles Wright receive publications of their works.

Marshall continues to be a small city with big appeal, whether hosting its annual Fall Festival each autumn or offering a summer of live music by the Marshall City Band, the oldest, continuously operating band in Illinois. Here are a few of our favorite items from the Marshall Public Library Digital Archive:

Light plant 1915. 1915. Marshall Public Library. Marshall Public Library Digital Archive. Courtesy of Marshall Public Library.
Christmas 1961, looking East down Archer Avenue. 1961. Marshall Public Library. Marshall Public Library Digital Archive. Courtesy of Marshall Public Library.
Balloon at Courthouse. July 5, 1900. Photographed by Bert Hogue. Marshall Public Library. Marshall Public Library Digital Archive. Courtesy of Marshall Public Library.
Marshall Public Library — 612 Archer Avenue. circa 1970. Marshall Public Library. Marshall Public Library Digital Archive. Courtesy of Marshall Public Library.
Fireworks at Canton A. Dixon Buggies & Wagons Farm Machinery — 614 -616 Archer Avenue. circa 1902. Marshall Public Library. Marshall Public Library Digital Archive. Courtesy of Marshall Public Library.
Mail carriers 1909. December 24, 1909. Photographed by Arthur Hurst. Marshall Public Library. Marshall Public Library Digital Archive. Courtesy of Marshall Public Library.
Marshall CC Camp. circa 1934. Marshall Public Library. Marshall Public Library Digital Archive. Courtesy of Marshall Public Library.
Harry Handy at the Handy Colony pond. circa 1950s. Marshall Public Library. Marshall Public Library Digital Archive. Courtesy of Marshall Public Library.

Want to see more? 

Visit the IDHH to browse even more items from the Marshall Public Library.

Look at the Unbe-leaf-able Fall Foliage

Cooler weather. Baking spices. Warm cider. These things might conjure up a variety of associations and feelings, but for those of us living in the northern United States, they herald the beginning of the autumn or fall season. With the start of November, the IDHH would like to highlight that time of year when the daylight hours wane and sweater weather is in vogue. In the Northern Hemisphere, autumn is usually recognized as the time between the autumnal equinox toward the end of September and the winter solstice toward the end of December. This time of the year has held various significance across cultures and periods, but early associations in the Northern Hemisphere centered around the passing of the year and the importance of the harvest season in areas across medieval Europe. 

While this connection to harvesting continues to be paramount for those working in agriculture, the environmental changes during the fall season have also become a key aspect of tourism for certain areas of the world. In the United States, portions of northern New England, Appalachia, and the upper Midwest offer prime views of leaves changing from their usual green color to vivid hues of orange, red, and yellow in the autumn months. Millions of visitors pour into these areas of the country to witness this stunning natural display – an act referred to as ‘leaf peeping’ in some circles. A phrase used colloquially in the United States since only the 1960s, leaf peeping is an autumn activity enjoyed internationally in the provinces of Ontario and Quebec in Canada, as well as in various parts of Japan.  

Here are a few of our favorite items featuring vibrant fall foliage:

Fall color. Circa 1990s. Knox College. Green Oaks Biological Field Station. Courtesy of Knox College.
Brothers Walter and Edward Mann raking fall leaves, Bloomington, IL 1947. October 9, 1947. Photographed by Wilma Tolley. McLean County Museum of History. Pantagraph Negative Collection, 1946 – 1949. Courtesy of the McLean County Museum of History.
Pere Marquette Park and Lodge, on the Great River Road (IL 100) facing the Illinois River. [n.d.] Photographed by Art Grossmann. Eastern Illinois University. Booth Library Postcard Collection. Courtesy of Eastern Illinois University.
Autumn view of maples, Oji, Tokyo. Circa 1880s. Created by Kinbē Kusakabe. Dominican University. Japanese Lantern Slides. Courtesy of Dominican University.
Autumn street. October 1978. Photographed by Henry X. Arenberg. Highland Park Historical Society. Highland Park History. Courtesy of the Highland Park Historical Society.

Want to see more? 

Visit the IDHH to browse even more items related to the fall season.

Memorial to the Remembered: Tombstones and Headstones

October marks that time of the year when we dress up as ghouls and goblins, decorate our homes with spiderwebs and skeletons, and indulge in all manner of frightening things. As a nod to these spine-chilling 31 days, the IDHH is featuring the fascinating use and art of tombstones and other grave markers. As diverse as the great variety of funerary traditions around the world, grave markers serve not only the utilitarian purpose of demarcating the physical space where an individual might lie, but also reflect the social values and traditions of a specific period or people. Cemeteries and other burial places held great significance from the earliest days, as providing a place for the dead was thought to be an important family obligation. This significance would eventually extend to larger communal graveyards and burial places as inclusion in these spaces became exclusive to community members, often excluding foreigners, criminals, and other unwanted groups. 

The tombstones and grave markers within these communal spaces have communicated a number of ideas to visitors over time. As a work of art, the craftsmanship and skill in the construction of the tombstones can be an aesthetic pleasure in its own right. Such artistry leads people to create gravestone rubbings with charcoal and to capture graveyard scenes through painting and photography. The construction and grandiosity of these markers may also impart a sense of prestige or wealth, such as in the image below of Carrie Eliza Getty’s large tomb in Chicago. Of course, tombstones also act as a memorial to previous generations, prompting us to seek out the histories of those buried there, like of the Mabie family and their influential 1840s circus show in Wisconsin. Whether viewed as art, icon, or historical marker, tombstones offer a (spooky) glimpse into the values and customs of those who are no longer with us. 

Here are a few of our favorite items featuring tombstones from across the Midwest:

Boy painting tombstone decorations, unspecified location, Central Illinois, 1951 Halloween picture layout. October 29, 1951. Photographed by Gene Smedley. McLean County Museum of History. Pantagraph Negative Collection 1950 – 1959. Courtesy of the McLean County Museum of History.
Carrie Eliza Getty Tomb and Joseph Medill tombstone, Graceland Cemetery. 1976. Photographed by Charles William Brubaker. University of Illinois Chicago. C. William Brubaker Collection. Courtesy of the University of Illinois Chicago.
Tombstone of Uriah T. Douglass and Julia A. Douglass in Oakwood Cemetery. [n.d] Western Illinois University. Digital Image Collection. Courtesy of Western Illinois University.
Tombstone. [n.d.] Photographed by Sverre O. Braathen. Illinois State University. Sverre O. Braathen Circus Photo Collection. Courtesy of Illinois State University.
Two veterans looking at tombstone of David A. Strother, first African American to cast a vote in the United States, El Paso, IL, 1954. May 28, 1954. Photographed by Ann Broder. McLean County Museum of History. Pantagraph Negative Collection 1950 – 1959. Courtesy of the McLean County Museum of History.
Scott tombstone Scott’s Cemetery 2002. 2002. Photographed by John Hallwas. Western Illinois University. Digital Image Collection. Courtesy of Western Illinois University.

Want to see more? 

Visit the IDHH to browse even more items related to tombstones and grave markers.