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Alpheus Pike campaigned in the eastern theater of the war and, after two years and nine months of service, was captured in May 1864 at a battle near Drewry’s Bluff in the Bermuda Hundred campaign and was sent to a notorious Confederate prison camp.
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Most people know about the letter a little girl wrote to the New York Sun newspaper in 1897 asking whether Santa Claus is real. It prompted the famous response, "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus." Bloomington-Normal children encountered their own slightly more intrepid version of that idea a couple decades later.
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The words of a World War II prisoner of war from Normal show a grim situation filled with privation, guard brutality, and occasional diversions. This comes from Robert S. Hall’s wartime journal, recently donated to the McLean County Museum of History.
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Agriculture is big business in McLean County. But it wasn't always that way. And those new to the area probably don't know how the county got where it is. As part of our ongoing Welcome Home series, WGLT dives into the history of agriculture in McLean County.
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Civil War veteran and political activist Richard Blue and music educator Frances Kessler are two of Bloomington's famous faces at this year's cemetery walk, a popular event attracting more than 3,000 visitors.
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It's cliche but children are the future. Bloomington resident Clara Louise Kessler passionately lived that.
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If you ever had to describe Bloomington-Normal's best features to someone who's never been here, the Constitution Trail would certainly be near the top of the list. Which is interesting, because it almost didn’t happen.
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WGLT's McHistory series features Richard Blue, the first Black person to run for council in Bloomington. He was also a Civil War veteran, activist, member of a literary society, doorman at the state capital, and barber.
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Simon Malone fled his native Mississippi and settled in Normal during the Civil War, and later fought for the Union Army that helped him flee as a fugitive slave.
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The Senate Appropriations Committee has advanced spending bills that include money for the McLean County Historical Society. The measure includes $550,000 to help the Museum of History continue making online copies of photo negatives from The Pantagraph newspaper archives.