The Illinois State Historical Society Officers

President: David W. Scott, Springfield
President Elect: Marvin W. Ehlers, Deerfield
Treasurer: Arthur M. Martin, Chicago

                    Directors

Directors, Terms Expire in 2005
Leah J. Axelrod, Chicago
Herbert Channick, Rockford
Redd Griffin, Oak Park
Russell Lewis, Chicago
John Power, Jacksonville

            Living Past Presidents
Alexander Summers, San Diego, CA
Robert M. Sutton, Urbana
Gunnar Benson, Sterling
Victor Hicken,Macomb
Katie Fiene Birchler, Chester
Samuel Lilly, Downers Grove
David J. Maurer, Charleston
Wilma Lund, Springfield
Patricia Wallace-Christian, Durham, CT
Mark A. Plummer, Normal
John T. Trutter, Northfield
E. Duane Elbert, Forrest
Raymond E. Hauser, St. Charles
Patricia Grimmer, Carbondale
John Power, Jacksonville
Robert J. Klaus, Chicago
Michael J. McNerney, Carbondale
Robert McColley, Urbana
Barbara M. Posadas, DeKalb
Rand Burnette, Jacksonville

Departments

3    President's message

4    News

30  From the archives

31  New members

Features

6     A vote for woman's suffrage
       A short history of suffrage in Illinois

21   2005 Centennial Awards Illinois corporations celebrate their first 100 years

26   The search for New Philadelphia
       New clues to America's first planned black community

To our readers:

Fall is upon us, the busiest time of year for the staff of the Illinois State Historical Society. Last month at the Palmer House in Chicago we celebrated the centennial anniversaries of 43 Illinois businesses and 105 Carnegie libraries, as well as the lifetime achievement of publisher John H. Johnson (Jet and Ebony magazines). You can read all about it in this issue of Illinois Heritage, beginning on page 21. In just a few weeks we'll be rolling into the 25th annual Illinois History Symposium, which this year features 16 panels, several brown bag lectures and museum tours, an Illinois history video fair, and a banquet at the Governors Mansion. The complete schedule and sign up sheet are also in this issue. We hope to see you at the Crowne Plaza in Springfield on December 3-4.

The November/December Heritage also features articles on woman's suffrage in Illinois and recent archaeology at New Philadelphia (the first planned African-American community), plus the latest Society news about historic markers, membership, and new arrivals at our bookstore. It's all memorable, thought-provoking reading to give you inspiration for the new year.

As members of the Illinois State Historical Society, you know the valuable work we do telling the history of the Prairie State to the world. The programs, services, and publications we provide are all done without state funding; our membership is our sole means of support, with occasional help from grants and generous benefactors who remember us at tax time and in their wills. If you want to help your Society, there is no time like the present. By sending a special gift to the Society in December, you will insure the future or our rich past and give us the means to continue our good work into the next decade. By buying a gift membership for a student, friend, or school library, you will help build our membership base and share your love of history.

Our very best wishes for the coming year,

William Furry
editor

2 |Illinois Heritage