Category: Illinois Bicentennial

In 2018, Illinois will celebrate 200 years of statehood! For the bicentennial, the Illinois History and Lincoln Collections will kick off a year-long celebration of the Prairie State’s fascinating history. Each month, we will focus on a different theme in Illinois history.

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The Alayu Family: Immigrants Helping Immigrants

Throughout the month of August, we are focusing our attention on immigration and the role immigrants have played in making Illinois what it is today. Follow along here on our blog and on our social media to learn about famous immigrants and immigrant experiences.

The Alayu Family Papers are a collection of personal papers that document the lives of an immigrant Filipino family in Chicago during the twentieth century. Francisco P. Alayu came to the United States as a student in 1919, at first settling in Sunnyside, Washington to attend high school. After he graduated in May of 1920, he moved to Illinois, briefly attending the University of Illinois in Urbana, though did not graduate. … Read More

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Immigration and Politics: The Know-Nothing Party in Illinois

Throughout the month of August, we are focusing our attention on immigration and the role immigrants have played in making Illinois what it is today. Follow along here on our blog and on our social media to learn about famous immigrants and immigrant experiences.

In the 1840s and 1850s, instability in Europe created a great influx of immigrants to the United States. Many of these immigrants came from Ireland and Germany, escaping poverty, famine, or political upheaval. From 1845 to 1853, nearly 3 million immigrants entered the United States, and many of them settled in large cities like Chicago.

For some Americans, these changes were unwelcome.… Read More

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The Wingard and Forney Families: Civil War Experiences

Civil War envelopes from Benjamin Franklin Wingard correspondence

Throughout August, we’re celebrating Illinois Civil War soldiers in honor of the bicentennial. As the Land of Lincoln, Illinois has a rich Civil War legacy. Follow along here on our blog and on our social media to learn more about Illinois’s impact on the Civil War.

In 1980 and 1988, James Russell Vaky donated the Wingard-Forney-Vaky Family Papers to the Library. This collection offers two unique perspectives on the Civil War. Records and letters document Benjamin Franklin Wingard’s life as a Union soldier, while Mary Forney’s teenage diary illustrates the home front experience in Waynesboro, Pennsylvania. The two married on October 13, 1870 and resided in Champaign, Illinois after the war.… Read More

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Jonathan Catlin: 52nd Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment

Throughout August, we’re celebrating Illinois Civil War soldiers in honor of the bicentennial. As the Land of Lincoln, Illinois has a rich Civil War legacy. Follow along here on our blog and on our social media to learn more about Illinois’s impact on the Civil War.

Photograph of Jonathan Catlin, undatedBefore the Civil War, Jonathan Catlin was a farmer in Dekalb County. He joined Company G of the 52nd Illinois Volunteer Infantry in September 1861. The 52nd Regiment was organized at Geneva, Illinois and mustered into federal service on November 19, 1861. The regiment engaged in the Battle of Shiloh, the Siege of Corinth, operations against Vicksburg, the Atlanta Campaign, and the March to the Sea.… Read More