Centennial Winners

Centennial Winners
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More than sixty businesses, organizations, and individuals were honored at the 2003 Centennial Awards, presented on Friday, October 10 at the Palmer House Hilton in Chicago. The following century-old businesses or not-for-profit corporations were unable to attend the banquet, but we thought their histories worth sharing. Congratulations to all our winners!

Applications for the 2004 Centennial Awards are now being accepted. If you know of Illinois businesses or not-for-profit corporations that will turn 100 in 2004, please have them contact the Society at 217-525-2781, or ask them to visit our website: www.historyillinois.org. Applications are available to download online.

Chartered in 1903 by the Illinois State Medical Society, The Macon County Medical Society's history dates back to 1866 when it was first organized as the Decatur Medical Institute. Reorganized as the Decatur Medical Society in 1874, its membership voted to become a branch of the

state organization in 1902. Established to "elevate and effectuate the opinions of the profession" throughout the state and community, the Society maintains offices on the campus of St. Mary's Hospital in Decatur. Accepting for the Macon County Medical Society is Dr. John White.

Funeral director G.E. Strang of Grayslake put out his shingle in 1898. A licensed undertaker and embalmer, Mr. Strang was also a furniture dealer, upholsterer, carpenter, builder and contractor. His versatility undoubtedly contributed to his business's longevity. The Strang Funeral Chapel and Crematorium, now in its second century of operation, is owned by the founder's grandson, David G. Strang and his business partner Richard A. Gaddis.

The Dobrovsky Club, a charitable, educational, and social organization of Czechslovak Masons, began meeting in 1888. In 1903 the organizers went official, naming their organization for Josef Dobrovsky, "Patriarch of the Slavs." The mission of the club is to stimulate interest in Czech culture and language, and to support humanitarian causes and institutions, such as the Bohemian Home for the Age, the Association of Czechoslovak Schools, and the Masonic Hospital.

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Groundwork for the Kewanee Chamber of Commerce was laid in 1888 with the formation of the Kewanee Business Men's Club. That organization merged with the Kewanee Retail Merchants Protective and Improvement Association, receiving a state of Illinois charter in 1902. In 1915, the Chamber hired its first executive director. Today the Kewanee Chamber of Commerce "is a partnership of business and professional people working together to build a healthy economy and to improve the quality of life in the community."

The Knights of Columbus of Bloomington established their Columbia Home Association in 1903 as the fund-raising arm of their benevolent service organization. Although the size and location of the facility has changed over the years as membership in the local KC has grown, the mission of the Association has remained constant: to raise money for charitable causes important to the work of the Knights of Columbus.

Attorneys Edward N. D'Ancona and A. J. Pflaum opened their first law office in Chicago in July 1903. Their address was in the Association Building at 153 LaSalle Street, in the heart of the financial district. Today, D'Ancona & Pflaum is a Limited Liability Company with offices on East Wacker Drive.

On May 28, 1903, John Wittmer, John Cetz Jr., and Joseph Hauter Jr. filed corporation papers for their Interlocking Fence Company in Morton, Illinois. Their trade was the manufacture and sale of fencing materials, and they operated in and around Tazewell County. In 1965, Henry A. Getz, grandson of one of the founders, filed with the Secretary of State to change the business name to Morton Buildings, Inc. Though the business has grown significantly throughout the century, it has never outgrown its community The company has kept the same address, 252 West Adams Street, since its founding.

Winthrop Ingersoll of Cleveland, Ohio, wanted to play professional baseball but his father had other plans. Winthrop's disappointment, however, became Illinois' good fortune. The Ingersoll Milling Company of Rockford began with a 50'x 100' feet shop and 19 employees. By 1917, it had 600 employees and the largest milling machine in the world. Ingersoll helped sustained the military through both world wars, and during the 1950s, its international markets led to partnerships in Germany and England. At its peak, with an international workforce of 4,000 and annual shipments of more than $500 million, Ingersoll ranked among the top special machine builders in the world.

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