History

There are many myths about the American west. They're wrong yet are remarkably sticky in American cultural consciousness according to historian Megan Kate Nelson. Nelson will speak at Illinois State University on March 19.

On October 28, 1934, the airport that would become Central Illinois Regional Airport was dedicated. A crowd estimated at 60,000 came to see the airshow and speech from the governor.

During the Great Depression the federal government tried to stimulate the economy by funding a variety of buildings and programs. Inside the 1936 WPA post office in Normal is a 1938 oil on canvas mural, a salute to the community, to human achievement, and to the importance of beauty in public spaces.

A Bloomington-Normal historian says bicycles were once a top export from the state of Illinois. Manufacturing centers in the state, including Peoria and Chicago, made two-thirds of all bicycles sold in the country in 1898.

If you want a sudsy taste of history, here's your chance: The McLean County Museum of History is partnering with Bloomington microbrewer Casper to honor the community's longest continuously operating (and now defunct) brewery.

It has been many decades since Downtown Bloomington was the premier destination for shoppers in the community. There was a time, though, when there were four large department stores downtown.

The Van Leer Memorial Bell Tower will now play music twice daily as it did last century.

Pulitzer Prize-winning presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin told a crowd of about 1,200 people at Illinois Wesleyan University on Monday night that Bloomington-Normal favorite son Adlai Stevenson II was her commencement speaker the year she graduated college.

Presidential historian and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Doris Kearns Goodwin will visit both Twin City universities next month – including one event that’s free and open to the public.

Despite the reputation of Bloomington-Normal as a staid, quiet community with nicknames such as "Borington" and "Insuranceville," the Twin Cities has a long history of protests. While there have been a lot of non-violent political protests around Bloomington-Normal lately, some past actions were not so civil.