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Originally hailing from Southern Illinois, I was interested in a web page I bumped into about Southern Illinois Important Events (I'll save the wiseguys the effort...'What important events?? Har-de-har-har).
The web page includes links to an SIU (Southern Illinois University Carbondale) student's senior thesis on the Anti-War Protests at SIU-Carbondale.
Another links to one of the more exciting events of my childhood, the 1968 Earthquake.
Some other fascinating sites concern KKK activity (Vigilantism and the Klan), violence by and against unionized coal miners (Mine Wars and Herrin Massacre), and the rum-running gangs of the 1920's (Charlie Birger). The KKK opposed, among other things, the use of alcohol and engaged in vigilante wars (The Ku Klux Klan (KKK), Alcohol, & Prohibition).
Mother Jones, the Miners' Angel hailed from Southern Illinois.
While most people have heard about the The Underground Railroad, far fewer are familiar with the Reverse Underground Railroad. Both went through Southern Illinois. The latter involved the kidnapping of blacks and the rendition of them into slavery. Check out: African-Americans in Antebellum Illinois.
No compilation of Southern Illinois history links would be complete without a reference to the Great Tornado of 1925 .
Links to bios:
Resources:
Southern Illinois History has primary sources, such as many oral history reports.
Southern Illinois: An Illustrated History Journal of the ... A newish book about the area.
Southern Illinois History has local history resources for Johnson and Pope counties.
Southern Illinois History Page Site Map pages of links.
And then there's the WW II fundraiser King Neptune (pig) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Doug,
ReplyDeleteYou forgot the tornado that struck Mt. Vernon's Appellate Court House, that gave included a visit from Clara Barton.
On February 19, 1888, a tornado cut a path a half mile wide through Mt. Vernon, killing 37 people and destroying more than 450 houses. The Jefferson County Courthouse was destroyed. This event was one of the first disasters to which the American Red Cross responded. Clara Barton herself directed the relief efforts.
Also, National Pike Road ends i Vandalia..
The National Road or Cumberland Road was one of the first major improved highways in the United States, built by the federal government. Construction began in 1811 at Cumberland, Maryland, on the Potomac River, and the road reached Wheeling, Virginia (now West Virginia) on the Ohio River in 1818. Plans were made to continue through St. Louis, Missouri, on the Mississippi River to Jefferson City, Missouri, but funding ran out and construction stopped at Vandalia, Illinois in 1839.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cumberland_Road