Jack’s next book signing is at BOBZBAY on May 13, 2023 10 – 12 noon! BOBZBAY is located at 419 North Main, Bloomington. Be sure to stop by and share Bloomington Normal history with Jack or just say hi! Bring your copy of Echos of Purple and Gold and get it signed. Or… pick up a copy and …
Our April newsletter begins with a connection to a historic April 15th, so you might want to read the first item immediately, if possible. Also, I was asleep at the switch, so to say, for Women’s History Month. So this newsletter reintroduces you to three women (four if you count the one who was famous …
Survivor of the Titanic disaster On April 15, 1912 – 111 years ago today if you’re reading this newsletter on time – news of the loss of the Titanic was the front page of the morning newspapers. The mighty White Star ocean liner had struck an iceberg and sunk on its maiden voyage with great …
Bloomington-Normal’s first female disc jockey With almost no public notice until a delayed obituary appeared, Ann Holub died in Bloomington on March 8, 2023. To Baby Boomers who wore braces on their teeth, the Holub name was familiar. Ann’s father, Dr. John Holub, was one of the Twin Cities’ best known dentists and orthodontists in …
Pioneer educator in Bloomington schools Almost everyone knows Sarah Raymond was Bloomington’s first female Superintendent of Schools. But she had a forgotten college classmate who left her own mark in local classrooms. Isabella F. Goudy was a dedicated, community-active teacher and principal who has been largely forgotten. Born into an intellectual family in Ohio in …
Linked is the latest edition of Back in the Day. Today, March 15, is the Ides of March, which was supposedly the date of Julius Caesar’s assassination. That said, the newsletter contains nothing about that historic event. But – this is still a timely read because we are only two days away from St. Patrick’s Day. This …
A Bit of Housekeeping at Back in the Day The header for this site now appears in Goudy Old Style type instead of the usual Times New Roman. Goudy Old Style is one of many type styles developed by Frederic W. Goudy. Call it a format change in the newsletter, but it’s also local history. …
Nationally Famous Speakers Heard and big Parades Held By James Hart Like in so many other places in North America, March 17 in Bloomington belonged to the Irish. In 1938 Pantagraph writer James Hart told of the low-key celebration that year, but also shared tales of 19th Century celebrations, rich with names of Bloomington’s Irish …
OLD TIME ST. PATRICK’S DAY CELEBRATIONS MORE ELABORATE Read More »
Ireland’s Saint, by J. B. Bury and Jon M. Sweeney The Bloomington Public Library featured a display of Irish-themed books in March, 2022. One of them, Ireland’s Saint, offered a biographic look at the man whom people of all faiths have come to know as St. Patrick. Of course, there are some gaps in the …
The Illinois Central rail station and this private home had their own stories to tell. The depot was built in 1903 to replace an earlier station that was destroyed in an 1896 train wreck. That’s agent C. E. Roseman on the platform. He and his wife lived in the house at the right. It stood …
