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The Illinois State Historical Society
Officers


President: John Weck, Sycamore
Vice President: Mark Sorensen, Decatur
Treasurer: Arthur M. Martin, Chicago
Secretary: Russell Lewis, Chicago


Directors: Terms Expire in 2008
Alberta Adamson, Wheaton
Roger Biles, Normal
Lawrence Hansen, River Forest
Patricia Walton, Hanover Park
Randall Witter, Springfield


Directors: Terms Expire in 2009
Leah Axelrod, Highland Park
Herbert Channick, Highland Park
Redd Griffin, Oak Park
Dennis Williams, Quincy
Robyn Williams, Harrisburg


Directors: Terms Expire in 2010
Terri Cameron, Springfield
John Craig, Springfield
Larry Douglas, Belknap
Stu Fliege, Springfield
Dave Joens, Springfield


                 Staff
William Furry, Executive Director
Mary Lou Johnsrud, Office Manager



            Advisory Board 2007-2008
Michael Batinski, Carbondale
Charles Burgess, Bethalto
Roland Cross, Springfield
Suzanne Dietrich, Edwardsville
Tim Draper, Sugar Grove
Elaine Egdorf, Homewood
Annemarie Erickson, Bloomingdale
Dow Grider, Sherman
Jeff Lightfoot, Springfield
Lisa Oppenheim, Chicago
James W. Patton III, Springfield
John Pearson, Chicago
Shirley Portwood, Godfrey
Robert Swenson, Carbondale
Charles Titus, Charleston
Ronald Vasile, Downers Grove
Gary Vitale, Springfield
Theodore Wachholz, Arlington Heights
Doug Whitley, Batavia
Muriel Wilson, Chicago


            Living Past Presidents
Victor Hicken, Macomb
Katie Fiene Birchler, Chester
Samuel Lilly, Downers Grove
David J. Maurer, Charleston
Wilma Lund, Springfield
Patricia Wallace-Christian, Madison, CT
Mark A. Plummer, Normal
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
David W. Scott, Springfield
Marvin Ehlers, Deerfield

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A Publication of The Illinois State Historical Society

July-August 2007                                                                                                                                         Volume 10 Number 4


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5     Letters

5     News

13  From the archives

24  Obituary: Gunnar Benson (1910-2007)

31  The honor roll

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8     Boz in Egypt
At the height of his poularity English novelist Charles Dickens visited southern Illinois and the American Bottom. It was the ultimate disappointment in a tour that started well in Boston and went downhill from there

12  Letters from home
"Excuse this bad scribble as I am hard at work shucking corn"

14  2007 Orndorff Scholarship winner Rumble in the Wigwam: The Republican National Convention of 1860 and the Story of the City That Shaped It

19  Sculpting Lincoln, Part 5
"Lincoln the Orator," and "Lincoln at the Crossroads of Decision"

21  A memorable spring for markers

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25  Dreaming the future

28  Road tripping

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An artist's conception of what Cairo, Illinois, might have looked like in 1840 if developers' dreams had been realized. It was not the Cairo visited by Charles Dickens.
        Illustration courtesy of Herbert Channick.

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Spring seems the season for historical markers. The Illinois State Historical Society dedicated 8 new or newly restored markers between March and June this year, a record in our collective memory (see the highlights beginning on page 21). While the fervor seems to have subsided, the summer crop still shows considerable promise, with separate dedications planned in the "ghost towns" of Cardiff and Wanborough later this year. To learn more about the Society's historical marker program, visit our website at www.historyillinois.org.

The July-August issue of Illinois Heritage visits Egypt and the American Bottom in Herbert Channick's "Boz in Egypt," which recounts English novelist Charles Dickens' misadventures in Illinois during the early 1840s. Dickens' summer­time memories of Cairo were woven into Martin Chuzzlewit, a satirical novel that lampooned Americans and did little to raise property values south of Centralia. Unfortunately, he never saw the Garden of the Gods or Bell Smith Springs.

This issue also includes the winning essay in the 2007 Verna Ross Orndorff Scholarship competition, Mt. Carmel High School Senior Frank Pucci's "Rumble in the Wigwam," an excellent entry that started out as a project for the Chicago History Fair last spring.

We also say farewell to past president Gunnar Benson, age 96, who led our 108-year-old organization from 1969-1970, and left his footprints all across northwest Illinois. I never met but already miss him.

As always, we welcome your comments, criticisms, and concerns. Be part of your Heritage; be part of our future.

—William Furry
Executive Director




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