Recipient: Lincoln Land Community College Foundation – Springfield, IL

Project Description: The Lincoln Land Community College (LLCC) Academy of Lifelong Learning (ALL), in partnership with the Springfield and Central Illinois African-American History Museum (SCIAAHM), aims to expand knowledge about slaves, indentured servants and free Negro leaders in early Illinois, founded as a “free” state.

The project consists of: A. Review Illinois State Archives’ and other resources, seeking facts and narratives and B. Research Priscilla Baltimore, known as “Harriet Tubman of the West,” an Underground Railroad conductor who founded Brooklyn, Illinois. Brooklyn is the oldest town incorporated by African Americans in the United States. It is expected that some new findings will be gained from oral histories that have passed through generations.

Learn more at forgotten-illinois.org.

Recipient: Paula Pugh Romanaux – Springfield, IL

Project Description: My research focuses on the forgotten Illinois history of 207 pipe organ grants from the Andrew Carnegie Trust, 1901-1919. As a Carnegie Foundation fellow, I propose to make the first known chronology and historical narrative database – pictorial and archival recording.

Andrew Carnegie hoped that the organ would not only be used for religious services but for social, cultural, and educational advancements in each community. Following Carnegie’s vision, this grant would fund five organ concerts on Carnegie instruments and “Informances” (hands-on introduction to the organ with short concert) for elementary and High School students.

Learn more at forgotten-illinois.org.

Recipient: Bronzeville Historical Society – Chicago, IL

Project Description: The Chicago Race Riot of 1919 Commemoration Project (CRR19) plans to create dispersed, city-wide public art to mark the centennial of the bloodiest incident of racial violence in city history.

We take inspiration from Germany’s “stumbling stones,” small plaques installed in sidewalks outsides residences of Holocaust victims; these markers educate ordinary people about past atrocities in subtle yet powerful ways.

CRR19 will create and install thirty-eight similar markers where each person was killed. We do so to educate about past racial injustices and their legacies as well as to inspire conversations about how to create a more equitable future.

More on this project soon.

Recipient: Galena Jo Daviess County Historical Society & Museum – Galena, IL

Project Description: We propose to create a 50-minute presentation for students in grades 5-8 throughout the Illinois Driftless region. Each presentation would include viewing of the 27-minute Emmy Award-winning documentary, “Mysteries of the Driftless,” followed by a 20-minute program highlighting unique Driftless attributes in the students’ own backyards.

The presentation will foster a sense of awe and appreciation for the prehistoric land they inhabit, and the people who called it home. Teachers resources to encourage further discovery: 6-8 lesson plans for Driftless geology, hydrology, botany, history and archaeology; a list of area geological sites for field trips.

Learn more at forgotten-illinois.org.

Recipient: Lawrence County Historical Society – Lawrenceville, IL

Project Description: Research from the original court documents and the old 1840s laws document the events leading up to the trial and hanging of the first woman in Illinois (1845). The grant will be used to publish this in a scholarly publication.

We want to learn whether possible defenses such as domestic violence or mental illness could have been used and, if so, might have resulted in a different judgment. Also, we want to determine if possible what effect an all-male jury had on the outcome. This publication will be the basis for a theater production in partnership with the County Arts Council.

Learn more at forgotten-illinois.org.

Recipient: Fox Tales International – Bishop Hill, IL

Project Description: Exploring a series of Forgotten Illinois stories that shaped both state and federal policies towards American Indians and based on the transcriptions of speeches that Territorial Governor Ninian Edwards and Pottawatomie Chief Gomo delivered at Cahokia, we will create a performance that challenges listeners, launching a conversation encouraging them to formulate their own point of view.

We will present performances all along the Edward’s Trace, including Cahokia, Edwardsville, Springfield, Elkhart, Peoria, and Chillicothe. We will film the program and create interactive lesson plans that bring the humanities to life with curriculum tied to state standards.

Learn more at forgotten-illinois.org.

Recipient: Fort de Chartres – Prairie Du Rocher, IL

Project Description: Les Amis proposed publication- French Colonial Fort de Chartres, a Journey in Time- is a 38-page line-art publication, by award-winning artist Tom Willcockson, focusing on the region’s little-known history of a colonial stone fort and exploring the complex reality of French colonialism in the 1700s.

In this Illinois Bicentennial year, a review of the region’s mixed historic societies and cultures can resonate, provoking reflection and discussion of cultural traditions through present time. This unique publication will make accessible a long-neglected chapter of the Middle Mississippi Valley to children and adults, at schools, libraries, and to the general public.

Learn more at forgotten-illinois.org.

Recipient: Antonio Delgado – Chicago, IL

Project Description: A video documentary will be produced for public presentations and various Public Television outlets. It seeks to improve public perceptions of Illinois’ Latino populations by highlighting their historical positive contributions The project director has been researching the proposed history topic for 6 years. He has accumulated a substantial variety of period images that will visually highlight missing pages of American History to the growth and development of Chicago and the State of Illinois.

Learn more at forgotten-illinois.org.

Recipient: Western Illinois Museum – Macomb, IL

Project Description: Western Illinois Museum, currently housed in the beautiful old Macomb Motors building, will video record 25 living histories of longtime laborers and farmers of Forgottonia, IL using the “garage” as the central binding narrative.

By highlighting old garages and cars we’ll draw on resident’s nostalgia of Forgottonia emphasizing the changes automobiles and highways brought to this region.

These memories will be displayed both in an exhibit at the Western Illinois Museum alongside relevant physical artifacts and in an interactive online database accessible to all.

More on this project soon.

Recipient: Go Veggie!, Inc. – Chicago, IL

Project Description: Through the creation of an interactive digital map of key places and events, this project will document Illinois’ role in the vegetarian history of the US.

We hope to bring this role out of the shadow of the Chicago region’s well-known history as the center of US livestock processing. (For example, many people are unaware of the large vegetarian exhibit at the 1893 World’s Fair (Columbian Exposition).)

We hope to expand our knowledge base here at the National Vegetarian Museum and learn more about effectively communicating information in a variety of formats to the general public.

More on this project soon.

Recipient: Kaskaskia Cahokia Trail Coalition – Waterloo, IL

Project Description: The Kaskaskia Cahokia Trail Coalition has been working to actively promote, preserve and maintain Illinois’ First Road: The Kaskaskia Cahokia Trail. In 2014 a full color brochure was printed, but quickly flew off the shelves and we would like to print a new booklet form brochure that will give even more information about the history along the trail.

Learn more at forgotten-illinois.org.

Recipient: Liz Chilsen – Forest Park, IL

Project Description: For Forgotten Illinois I propose to research and create photographs at endangered historic sites in Illinois seeking to answer the core question: “What can these endangered sites tell us about the ever-evolving identity of our state?”

Using as a basis Landmarks Illinois’ 2018 list of Endangered Historic Sites, I will create visual stories and share them via exhibitions, public programs, and online media publications. Carrying out this project, I strive to know these places more deeply, to better understand their contributions to our state’s history and identity, and to share this understanding broadly, engaging new audiences in the dialog.

Learn more at forgotten-illinois.org.

Recipient: Friends of Hauberg Civic Center Foundation – Rock Island, IL

Project Description: Use the Jens Jensen documentary “The Living Green”, to showcase the Hauberg Estate as an intact design, and tour the design showing his design aesthetic, ecology and natural beauty of the natural world.

Only 35 of Jensen’s complete private designs still exist, showing the documentary at the mansion and a tour of the grounds with a custom booklet, will make a lasting impression on any participant.

We want to include local schools districts and colleges to help bring a younger audience. These tours would include ecology and environmental topics/discussions tailored to the school grade or college class.

More on this project soon.

Recipient: Landmarks Illinois – Chicago, IL

Project Description: Landmarks Illinois will partner with a student intern or intern team to create video content that conveys the relevance of the built environment we have inherited in Illinois.

The project will acknowledge the milestone of Illinois’ Bicentennial and focus on our state’s Underground Railroad sites, about which many people are unaware. This is an opportunity to elucidate a piece of forgotten Illinois history for current residents and future generations, and illustrate why historic preservation matters. This adds to a growing library of digital content we can promote on social media to expand the base of people saving places for people.

Learn more at forgotten-illinois.org.

Recipient: Landmarks Illinois – Chicago, IL

Project Description: Discover Ray Bradbury will be an original performance combining drama, documentary, and music to bring to life Ray Bradbury, the famed author, Waukegan’s native son.

The drama features Grammy-winning actor Bill Oberst, Jr. performing as Bradbury; the documentary shows original interviews of people who knew or were influenced by Bradbury; the music is contemporary-style, original Green Town compositions.

The performance will leave the audience of students and adults with a lively, memorable impression of Ray Bradbury and help to fill the gap between what they learn from reading Bradbury stories and the forgotten places in Waukegan that inspired him.

More on this project soon.

Recipient: Illinois College – Jacksonville, IL

Project Description: Illinois College and the Jacksonville Public Library are bringing Colson Whitehead, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning book “The Underground Railroad,” to Jacksonville in September.

Grant funding (Artistic Interpretation Activity) is requested to produce a companion play portraying the involvement of IC and some Jacksonville residents in abolitionist activities and the Underground Railroad. Post-show discussions will help connect historical events to lingering racism today. IC is committed to five October-November performances, pending a grant award. This will help students and the public understand that forgotten Illinoisans, here, risked everything for freedom and justice.

Learn more at forgotten-illinois.org.

Recipient: 1820 Col. Benjamin Stephenson House – Edwardsville, IL

Project Description: Voices Unleashed is an initiative planned by the Benjamin Stephenson House to enhance the learning capabilities for visitors about the difficult history behind early indentured servitude in Illinois.

This project will showcase the lives of the Stephensons’ slaves that were turned into servants. We hope to create a new documentary film about the lives of the servants at the Stephenson House that can be sent to schools and viewed by visitors when they visit the site.

With Voices Unleashed, we want to demonstrate that difficult history can be brought to the forefront in a creative and enjoyable format.

More on this project soon.

Recipient: Zachary M. Jack – Naperville, IL

Project Description: When many Illinoisans hear the word “suffrage” or read about the spectacular votes-for-women movement of the early twentieth century, they mistakenly identify New York and other Eastern Seaboard states as the principle progenitors and popularizers of that progressive movement.

In fact, one of the most forgotten and little understood aspects of Illinois history and culture is the pioneering role our state played in the enfranchisement of women. As a follow-up to the preliminary project narrative I submitted last year I am proposing to write a researched historical stage play of forgotten Illinois that brings the one-of-a kind pioneers of the Illinois suffrage movement to life for an all-ages audience.

Learn more at forgotten-illinois.org.

Recipient: Wabash County Museum – Mount Carmel, IL

Project Description: The archeological excavations at the Hallock-Shearer farmstead site are significant in light of “The Journal of Mary Shearer” published in 1969 and written in 1879.

The family farm was unique in the breadth of its farm products which were produced and marketed from the farm. Funds from the Forgotten Illinois grant would be used for historical research to support exhibit development, verify and supplement Mary Hallock’s recollections.

More on this project soon.

Recipient: Village of Elkhart – Elkhart, IL

Project Description: This project will engage people to learn about and appreciate the Village of Elkhart’s rich history through conversation and the artistic interpretation of five window display panels at our Village Hall, each with descriptive panels below each window, supplemented by educational information (accessible online and printed).

These interactive components will create the opportunity for villagers, educators and visitors to gain a deeper understanding of the connections between the people, contributions and historic incidents that influenced the identity of our Illinois village and begin conversations about our current and future history-in-the-making.

Learn more at forgotten-illinois.org.