NEW IPO Logo - by Charles Larry Home Search Browse About IPO Staff Links


Plague on the Prairie

To the editor:
I just received Illinois Heritage today and read the interesting article on the cholera epidemics. I am particularly interested in your article on the first pandemic and the references to the ships from Ireland and England to Canada in 1832. Could you tell me where I could find more information about the ships? Are there any passenger lists still in existence and, if so, where they might be found?

Connie O'Kieffe
Wilmette

Editor's note: The best account of cholera's invasion of the Americas is found in J.S. Chamber's "The Conquest of Cholera," published by the MacMillan Company in 1938. Chambers provides not only the names of the infected ships but indicates the other ports up and down the Atlantic Coast where the epidemic could easily have docked also. For ships' manifests, contact the Illinois State Historical Library (217-782-4836). Reference librarians there can put you on the right track.

In some Illinois communities, the epidemic of 1833 lasted two decades. Shiloh Cemetery in rural Coles County, for example, put up this marker to commemorate the cholera deaths in its community over a period of 16 years. If you know of other cholera markers in the state, please let us know.

Holiday at the "san"

To the editor:
I am thrilled with the article you wrote about my Aunt Florence's photograph album! [See "Holiday at the San," Vol. 5 No. 1] She would be so surprised to think that it will be preserved in a museum! I feel privileged to be able to share it.

I believe that the soldier you refer to is my father, her brother. He was the only close relative of hers who served in WWII. In 1944 he was stationed in England with the 103rd General Hospital. When I was looking through the album I didn't happen to look closely at that picture, so I would have to see it again to be sure.

Dr. Susan Behrens
Beloit, Wisconsin

Correction: The cover photograph of the January/ February issue Illinois Heritage was taken by Tiffany Hermon.

Antique road show... for teachers

The Illinois State Historical Society will hold a free Route 66 seminar for teachers September 27 in Springfield.

"Route 66 is a perfect metaphor of American life and culture in the Twentieth Century," said Tom Teague, the Society's executive director. "With this gathering we will help teachers make it come alive in the classroom. Our partners and co-sponsors include the State Farm Insurance Foundation, the Route 66 Association of Illinois, and several private donors."

Michael Wallis, author of the landmark book Route 66: The Mother Road, will keynote the seminar. Teachers from throughout the country who have pioneered Route 66 in the classroom will then take part in a panel discussion. They include Don Cavallini of Illinois, Becky Ransom of Texas, and Elaine Mariolle of Arizona. A demonstration of Route 66 audiovisual and Internet resources will follow. The day will end with a field trip to 66-related historic sites. In addition, the Society will create a lending library of Route 66 videos and other resources for teachers.

The seminar is open to middle and senior high school teachers of history or social studies. They need not live or work on Route 66 to attend. To apply, they must submit request letters from their principals on school district letterhead to the Illinois State Historical Society, 210-1/2 S. 6th St., Suite 200, Springfield, IL 62701. A letter should tell what subject and grade an applicant teaches and what he or she hopes to gain by attending the event.

This seminar and other educational programs of the Society honor Olive Foster, a past director of the Illinois State Historical Library and a leading advocate for teachers and improved schools. For more information, call the Society at 217-525-2781 or send e-mail to ishs@eosinc.com.

Dinner and history

The 2002 Gaylord Building Dinner and Lecture Series got off to a fine start in February with programs on the new Lincoln Presidential Library and the Lincoln cottage at the Soldiers and Sailors Home in Washington, D.C. Later this month the series continues with a "Seagoing" theme, featuring a slide lecture on "Maritime Chicago" by Loyal University professor and author Ted Karamanski, and a program of "Songs of the Great Lakes," by folksinger Lee Murdock. The dinner/lecture begins at 6:45 p.m. on Wednesday, March 20, at the Gaylord Building Historic Site, 200 W. 8 Street in Lockport. The series continues on Thursday, May 16, when Floyd Mansberger of Fever River Research discusses "Archaeology of the Illinois & Michigan Canal." Reservations are $25 each, $22 for members of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. For details call 815-588-1100.

4 ILLINOIS HERITAGE


|Home| |Search| |Back to Periodicals Available| |Table of Contents| |Back to Illinois Heritage 2002|
Illinois Periodicals Online (IPO) is a digital imaging project at the Northern Illinois University Libraries funded by the Illinois State Library