GLT's McHistory

Wherever humans gather, there is garbage. And getting rid of it is a challenge. The start of trash removal in Bloomington dates to the start of the 20th century and to a man known in his day as the King of Swedes.

The way Black people were treated in Bloomington-Normal got a lot worse in the 20th century than in the years before, and that's saying something. Those conditions produced jarring juxtapositions in people's lives, such as that of an intelligent churchgoing Black woman who worked for the family of State Farm royalty and in a brothel to make ends meet.

One doesn't think of Bloomington and central Illinois as a lurid hotbed of crime. But it certainly seems it could have been that way during the mid-to-late 1800s as portrayed by the three city newspapers of the day.

Coming from nothing, an illiterate Black man from Bloomington-Normal — long before the civil rights movement — found a niche in the national market for cleaning products. In this episode of the WGLT feature McHistory, hear about a floor polish and the man who invented and sold it.

Ellen Ferguson was a champion of women and women's suffrage. She made Bloomington-Normal her home in the 1870s.

Bloomington-Normal has a long and distinguished history of business entrepreneurship. One less than distinguished, but very successful, business, had a continent-wide spread in the late 1800s.

Bloomington-Normal has a tie to famed actor John Wayne and legendary filmmaker John Ford — a hardware store clerk turned noted author, Harold Sinclair.

There is not much prairie left in Illinois. Once, there was a waving sea of tall perennial flowers and grasses across much of the state. Now there is .01% of the original prairie left in Illinois.

A 19th century Bloomington doctor was a respected physician who was accused of stealing corpses.

In 1913, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) was founded in Bloomington to stop the defamation of Jewish people by appealing to minds, morals, and the law. Sigmund Livingston served as its first director.

McHistory is a co-production of WGLT and the McLean County Museum of History.

McHistory is a co-production of WGLT and the McLean County Museum of History.

This week's episode of McHistory recounts Eleanor Roosevelt's visit to Bloomington-Normal in 1937.

In this episode of McHistory, a look at the McLean County Poor Farm, where living conditions were often inhumane.

The National Liver and Kidney Cure was said to be made from vegetables and herbs—and may have had some alcohol in it for an extra kick. It was made right here in Normal.

On this month's episode of McHistory, you'll meet Florence Mae Risser Funk of Bloomington, who played a key role in getting women the right to vote.

The McLean County Basketball Tournament is one of the longest running basketball tournaments in the state of Illinois.

Here is a profile of a man who drove vice presidents and governors, wealthy landowners, visiting artists, and the prominent of Bloomington-Normal all about town more than a century ago. During Black History Month, this episode of McHistory shows you the working life of Absalom Hawkins, a well-known African American man in the Twin Cities. It also tells you about a 19th century brain drain of African Americans. Those who became educated had to leave the area to get jobs outside the working class.

The early 1900s saw an influx of racism and discrimination in the Midwest, from anti-Catholic, anti-immigrant, and anti-African American sentiment, to race riots in Springfield, Chicago, and Tulsa, Oklahoma. The Ku Klux Klan became a force in central Illinois. Segregation grew in Bloomington-Normal and what had been a thriving black middle class was gradually destroyed.

Bloomington-Normal had only one documented lynching.

John L. Walcott was Bloomington's first undertaker. This episode of McHistory shares the story of one cabinet furnisher turned coffin maker. This episode of McHistory was produced by WGLT's Mary Cullen, featuring Bill Kemp of the McLean County Museum of History and Seth Wheeler, a volunteer with the museum. Hear more local history stories by subscribing to WGLT's McHistory podcast . People like you value experienced, knowledgeable and award-winning journalism that covers meaningful stories in Bloomington-Normal. To support more stories and interviews like this one, please consider making a contribution .

Elizabeth "Lizzie" Irons Folsom Fox blazed the path for women in Bloomington-Normal who had dreams of writing in the late 1800s.

Baseball fans remember the greats of the sport: the Babe Ruths, the Lou Gehrigs. And the players that didn't quite make the Hall of Fame often slip through the cracks of our memory.

One of Bloomington-Normal's early feminists, Anna May Christian, was proud to live her life as a single woman at the turn of the 20th century.

In 1935, switchboard operators for the Wabash Telephone Company handled an average of 60,000 calls coming through its downtown Bloomington building. This episode of McHistory tells the story of how Bloomington-Normal switchboard girls responded to the introduction of automatic dial systems. This episode of McHistory was produced by WGLT's Mary Cullen, featuring Bill Kemp and Hannah Johnson of the McLean County Museum of History. Subscribe to the McHistory podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or NPR One. People like you value experienced, knowledgeable and award-winning journalism that covers meaningful stories in Bloomington-Normal. To support more stories and interviews like this one, please consider making a contribution .

In the decade after women's suffrage, leaders of the female empowerment movement were eager to become more involved in governmental affairs. This episode of McHistory honors Illinois' first female state senator, and the inspiration for the McLean County League of Women Voters. WGLT's Mary Cullen produced this episode of McHistory, featuring Bill Kemp and Candace Summers of the McLean County Museum of History. People like you value experienced, knowledgeable and award-winning journalism that covers meaningful stories in Bloomington-Normal. To support more stories and interviews like this one, please consider making a contribution .

On the Fourth of July weekend in 1956, one of Bloomington's most famous residents returned to rally support ahead of the presidential election.

Dr. Eugene Covington was the first and only African American physician in McLean County in the early 20th century.

Here is a story of hooligans, pranks, and university hijinks from the early part of the last century. It's part of McHistory, GLT's occasional series using letters, articles, and diaries from McLean County citizens written in times gone by.

From 1892 to the early 1930s professor June Rose Colby taught literature, grammar, and composition at Illinois State Normal University. One of the first female professors at the university, Colby was a pioneer for feminism.

And now, one of GLT's recurring features during Sound Ideas using letters, articles, and diaries from McLean County citizens written in times gone by. Today's McHistory is about the Civil War Battle of Prairie Grove, Arkansas, which took place Dec. 7, 1862. G.W. Howser died about a year and a half after writing the letter, on July 29th 1864 when the regiment was in Brownsville, Texas. Contributors to this episode of McHistory include Museum Archivist Bill Kemp and Director Greg Koos and was produced by GLT's Charlie Schlenker. "McHistory" is a co-production of WGLT and the McLean County Museum of History. People like you value experienced, knowledgeable and award-winning journalism that covers meaningful stories in Bloomington-Normal. To support more stories and interviews like this one, please consider making a contribution .

Next month, the Illinois General Assembly returns to Springfield for its annual fall veto session in which it considers whether to override the governor's rejections and changes to bills passed by lawmakers.

At the turn of the 20th century, a certain woman journalist put out four columns a week. She was a prolific writer turning in 2,000 words at a crack, a wonderful interviewer, and nobody's fool. Madam Annette talked with everyone from businessmen and public officials to jail inmates. During GLT's recurring series McHistory we hear portions of one of Madam Annette's columns as she explores a coal mine under Bloomington. McLean County Museum of History Development Director Beth Whisman reads the column with comment from Archivist Bill Kemp. McHistory is a co-production of WGLT and the McLean County Museum of History using the letters, diaries, and documents of days gone by. People like you value experienced, knowledgeable and award-winning journalism that covers meaningful stories in Bloomington-Normal. To support more stories and interviews like this one, please consider making a contribution .

In 1824 the area that would become McLean County had only 15 settler families. By 1830 when the county came into being the population was still very sparse.

We dip into a half century of diaries of life in McLean County by a carpenter and handyman who wrote fiction and poetry and a log of his daily rounds in Bloomington-Normal. Charles Morgan wrote of freight hopping to Kansas City, going to Nickelodeon movies in the 1910s, the 1918 flu which killed more than 3% of the world population.

An early Bloomington settler and one time friend of Abe Lincoln was also a southern sympathizer. Sarah Withers wrote on May 4th 1861, "This day our nation is to be disgraced by the inauguration of Abe Lincoln as President. How Humiliating!" A selection from the Withers Diary is part of this episode of GLT's recurring series, McHistory. Contributors to this episode of McHistory include McLean County Museum of History Archivist Bill Kemp, and Museum Development Director Beth Whisman. GLT's Charlie Schlenker produces McHistory, which is a co-production of WGLT and the Museum of History using the letters, diaries, and documents of days gone by. People like you value experienced, knowledgeable and award-winning journalism that covers meaningful stories in Bloomington-Normal. To support more stories and interviews like this one, please consider making a contribution .

In this Black History Month edition of our Sound Ideas recurring series McHistory, you'll hear from a Spanish American War Soldier from Bloomington who writes home from eastern Cuba. Julius Witherspoon returned to Bloomington after the war, but he was not well, perhaps because of a tropical disease. Witherspoon died a few years later at the age of 46. McHistory is a co production of GLT and the McLean County Museum of History. This episode included the voices of Museum Marketing Director Jeff Woodard, and Librarian Bill Kemp, and was produced by GLT's Charlie Schlenker. People like you value experienced, knowledgeable and award-winning journalism that covers meaningful stories in Bloomington-Normal. To support more stories and interviews like this one, please consider making a contribution .