Interviews

Tim Blair - Pension Crisis in Illinois

Tim Blair, the Executive Director of the State Retirement System, reviews the function of the State Retirement System and the three pension systems it manages: state employees, judges, and the General Assembly. He reviews the impact of pension holidays, pension enhancements, state employee pension funding, actuarial projections, and investment income on current pension funds. Blair also reviews some of the major changes that have impacted the state's pension system over the last two decades, including COLA compounding, the Rule of 85, the Formula Change of 1998 and the Tier 2 change of 2011.

David Blanchette - General Interest

In March, 2013 David Blanchette, who had worked at the IL Historic Preservation Agency for nearly fourteen years, joined the Governor Pat Quinn administration as an assistant press secretary. He was brought on board to maximize the positive publicity the governor received in the lead-up to Quinn's run for reelection in 2014. David proved to be very successful in promoting the governor's 'Illinois Jobs Now' program, where he targeted the initiative's successes in local communities, but it was not enough to defeat Quinn's opponent, wealthy businessman Bruce Rauner, in what proved to be a strong Republican year.

David Blanchette - IHPA legacy

David Blanchette is the Public Informations Officer/Communications Manager for the IHPA and Presidential Library. He received his B.A. in Journalism from MacMurray College in Jacksonville, IL, in 1982, then went on to work for WJIL-WJVO Radio in Jacksonville until 1987. In 1987, he became Public Information Officer for the Illinois Department of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities, and in 1989 became P.I.O. for the Illinois Historical Preservation Agency.

David 2015 Blanchette - IHPA legacy

For two and a half decades, from 1989 to 2013, David Blanchette served as the Public Information Officer for the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency and later the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum. He served in that capacity during IHPA's infancy, and during the conceptualization, design, construction and opening of ALPLM, a world-class museum and library. Dave discusses these topics in detail, as well as the management turmoil that the department experienced in the years following its opening.

David Blanchette - Obama in Illinois

For two and a half decades, from 1989 to 2012, David Blanchette served as the Public Information Officer for the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency and later the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum. He was with IHPA during its infancy, and during the conceptualization, design, construction and opening of ALPLM, a world-class museum and library. U.S. Senator and later President Barack Obama was at the ALPLM for the Museum's opening, as well as the bicentennial of Lincoln's birth.

Paul Blanchette - Korean War

Paul Blanchette is a Korean War era veteran who served on occupation duty in Japan. He was assigned as a unit armorer to the 3rd Marine Division stationed at Camp Okubo, Japan from 1953- 1954. Paul talked extensively about occupation duty in Japan, including relations between American military personnel and the Japanese people

Gene Bleuer - Korean War

Gene Bleuer was an infantry platoon sergeant with the 5th Regimental Combat Team during the Korean War. He was captured by the Chinese in December 1952 and spent the next several months in a Chinese POW camp until a failed escape attempt and injury led to his being exchanged for sick and injured Chinese troops as part of the Operation Little Switch.

John Block - Modern Era

John Block began life as a grain and hog farmer from west central Illinois, who became who served as a leader in the Illinois Farm Bureau, then became director of the Illinois Department of Agriculture under Governor Jim Thompson before being selected by Ronald Reagan to serve as his Secretary of Agriculture.

Scott Blomberg - War On Terror

Scott Blomberg enrolled in the U.S. Army's Health Professional Scholarship Program while attending medical school, where he trained to be an optometrist. Following his graduation in 2000, he was required to serve on active duty. He was assigned to the 101st Airborne at Ft. Campbell, Kentucky, and deployed to Kosovo in March 2001. His division was mobilized again for the liberation of Iraq in March 2003.

Thomas Boaz - Vietnam War

Thomas Boaz discusses how, during a year he spent abroad in Nuremburg, Germany, he came to the decision to be a non-combative conscientious objector and what it meant to him to be a nonpolitical pacifist. His status as a non-combative conscientious objector offers a unique perspective of the Vietnam War, the protests, and the draft.

Ben Boer - Public School Funding

Benjamin Boer discusses his work on the inequities of Illinois Public School Funding as Deputy of Research for Advance Illinois, a non-profit organization focusing on Illinois public education questions. He discussed Illinois Public School funding from 2008-2018, examining state budgeting for public schools, and the negative impact of pro-ratio funding on poorer school districts. Ben reviewed the various legislative school funding bills from 2014-17, Governor Rauner’s Legislative Funding Commission, Senate Bill 1 and House Bill 1947, which led to the adoption of a new evidence based school funding formula.

Mary Bohlen - ERA Fight in Illinois

Mary Painter Bohlen earned her master’s degree in public affairs reporting from Sangamon State University in 1977. She was then hired by United Press International and spent the next five years reporting on activities in the Illinois statehouse. Her tenure included the epic 1982 fight in the legislature over the Equal Rights Amendment. ERA was not passed in Illinois, and it went down to defeat at the national level when it failed to achieve the goal of 38 states adopting it. Mary later spent thirty years teaching journalism classes at Sangamon State University (later renamed the University of Illinois Springfield).

Keith Bolin - School District Reorganization

Keith Bolin is a Bureau County farmer with a lifetime of experience in his community's schools, serving on the Manlius Board of Education in the 1990s, and advocating the consolidation of several tiny school districts into the new Bureau Valley School District #340 established in 1995.

Larry Bomke - Obama in Illinois

Larry Bomke served Sangamon County and central Illinois in a political career that began in the early 1970s and ended with his retirement from the Illinois Senate in 2013. He began his career as a Republican at the grass roots level, and in 1976 was elected to serve on the Sangamon County Board. In 1992 he became the Chairman of the County Board, and in 1995 he was appointed by the Sangamon County Republican Party to fill an Illinois Senate seat vacated by Karen Hasara, who was running for mayor of Springfield. He served in the Senate for the next 18 years, during a time that coincided with Barack Obama's years in the IL Senate.

Larry Bomke - Legislators Project

Larry Bomke served Sangamon County and central Illinois in a political career that began in the early 1970s and ended with his retirement from the Illinois Senate in 2013. He began his career as a Republican at the grass roots level, and in 1976 was elected to serve on the Sangamon County Board. In 1992 he became the Chairman of the County Board, and in 1995 he was appointed by the Sangamon County Republican Party to fill an Illinois Senate seat vacated by Karen Hasara, who was running for mayor of Springfield. He served in the Senate for the next 18 years, during a time that coincided with Barack Obama's years in the IL Senate.

Larry Bomke - Pension Crisis in Illinois

Senator Larry Bomke of Springfield, Illinois discusses the evolution of the Illinois state pension crisis. Bomke talks about the Illinois legislature's attempts to reform Illinois’s pension system. He discusses the effects of a law passed during the Edgar administration requiring the state to pay an ever increasing amount to the pension system (pension ramp), and of the law passed during the Blagojevich administration authorizing pension holidays.

Mildred Louise Bond - Delta Sigma Theta

Mildred Bond was born and raised in Brownsville, Tennessee, and attended Lane College in Jackson, Tennessee, where she pledged with the Delta Sigma Theta sorority. After earning a Bachelor of Science degree in 1955, Ms. Bond began a long and successful teaching career in the Decatur, Illinois school district, garnering a reputation as an outstanding teacher. In 1976 she felt the time was right for a chapter of Delta Sigma Theta alums to be formed when another sorority sister/educator in Decatur presented the chartering idea to Mildred.

Thelma Bonds - Delta Sigma Theta

In 1972, while a nursing student at Eastern Illinois University, Ms. Thelma Bonds pledged with the school's Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Theta Zeta Chapter. In 1974, she graduated from the university with a BS in Business, with a marketing major and a management minor. She is now retired from Illinois Power, and is a charter member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. Springfield-Decatur Area Alumni Chapter.

David Bone - Vietnam War

David Bone served as a platoon leader for a Marine reconnaissance platoon in South Vietnam through most of 1966. He saw action on his very first mission, and plenty of his missions thereafter, including a famous action at Howard's Hill (Hill 488) in June, 1966. He later attended the U.S. Navy's dive school in the Philippines before returning to Vietnam, where he the worked as a diver for a short time. David grew up in Jacksonville, Illinois, and prior to his wartime tour of duty, played center on the Northwestern University basketball team during a heyday for Big 10 basketball.

Mark Boozell - Governor Jim Edgar Project

Mark Boozell served for over two decades in both the legislative and executive branches of Illinois government. Most of that time he worked for Jim Edgar, first as a legislative liaison while Edgar was Secretary of State, then in a variety of positions when Edgar was elected governor in 1991, including another tour as legislative liaison. Boozell served as Edgar's Chief of Staff during his final year as Governor

John Borling - Obama in Illinois

John Borling graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1963, and completed flight training as a fighter pilot in 1964. By 1965 he was flying combat missions in an F-4 Phantom over North Vietnam, and on his 97th mission was shot down in June, 1966. Borling spent the next six and a half years as a POW. After his release, he had a long and distinguished career, including serving as a White House Fellow in the Gerald Ford administration, command of the famed 'Hat in the Ring' Squadron, several higher level commands, and tours at the Pentagon, in Germany, Belgium, the Strategic Air Command and his final assignment in Norway as the Chief of Staff of Allied Forces-North. In 2004, Borling was a candidate for a U.S. Senate seat in Illinois, which was eventually won by Barack Obama.

Major General John Borling - Gulf War

John Borling graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1963, and completed flight training as a fighter pilot in 1964. By 1965 he was flying combat missions in an F-4 Phantom over North Vietnam, and on his 97th mission was shot down in June, 1966. Borling spent the next six and a half years as a POW. After his release, he had a long and distinguished career, including serving as a White House Fellow in the Gerald Ford administration, command of the famed 'Hat in the Ring' Squadron, several higher level commands, and tours at the Pentagon, in Germany, Belgium, the Strategic Air Command and his final assignment in Norway as the Chief of Staff of Allied Forces-North. This interview was done in collaboration with the Pritzker Military Library.

Major General John Borling - Vietnam War

Major General John Borling was the deputy director of operations at STRACOS, Headquarters, Strategic Air Command (SAC) at Offutt Air Force Base, in Nebraska, during Operation Desert Storm (First Gulf War) in January, 1991. General Borling was instrumental in coordinating SAC's role in Desert Storm into the larger air war. Both SAC B-52s and air refuelers were involved in the Desert Storm air campaign. He discusses SAC's role in Operation Desert Storm in detail.

Randolph A Boschulte - Vietnam War

Randy Boschulte was born and raised in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, and attended college and received his officer's commission in 1967 from Morgan State College in Baltimore, Maryland. He attended the Ordnance Officer Basic Course, and after a couple of state-side tours, served in South Vietnam in 1969-70. Following his return, Randy stayed in the Army until he was RIFed (reduction in force) in 1978. He joined the U.S. Army Reserve a few years later, and by 1985 was working full time for the USAR, with a wide variety of postings over the years until he retired in 1993.

Ron Botz - Vietnam War

Ron Botz grew up the son of a WW II combat pilot and career officer. He knew from an early age he wanted to fly, and he got his opportunity by flying helicopters for the U.S. Army. He arrived in South Vietnam in February of 1968, and flew scores of combat missions in UH-1 Hueys with the 4th Aviation Battalion, 4th Infantry Division. Botz also discusses his career following his tour in Vietnam, first as a civilian, followed by service in the IL Army National Guard beginning in 1973, and ending as a Brigadier General in 2005.

David Bourland - Governor Jim Thompson Project

Dave Bourland was working in the Winchester Framing Company in 1976 when he first met gubernatorial candidate Jim Thompson . The two quickly forged a friendship based on their mutual passion for art, antiques, and architecture. When Thompson was elected governor later that year, he asked Bourland to appraise the artwork and furnishings in the executive mansion. The two worked closely together over the next fourteen years as Gov. Thompson's fascination for antiques grew. In 1983 Bourland began working in the mansion full time as the mansion curator. He has remained in that post until the present, except for a period when he worked for Secretary of State George Ryan from 1991 through 1998.

Richard Bowen - Cold War Era

Richard Bowen was drafted into the Army in 1966, and received his basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. Bowen was originally on orders to go to Vietnam after advanced training, but his orders were changed because of a stint in the hospital. He was sent instead to Kissingen, Germany and assigned to Company E, 10th Engineer Battalion, 3rd Infantry Division. Bowen was soon assigned as the unit's clerk due to his college experience, and spent his spare time traveling throughout Germany, including East Berlin.

Thomas Bowman - Vietnam War

Tom Bowman, from Springfield, Illinois, was drafted into the Army in May, 1968. Following Basic Training he received additional training as a Medical Records Specialist. He arrived in South Vietnam in December, 1968 and was assigned to the 44th Medical Brigade, which was headquartered at Nha Trang. He performed a variety of tasks including assisting in triage, ambulance driver, accompanying teams going to the field on MEDCAPs (Medical Civil Action Program), and escorting psychiatric patients. He worked in the 6th Convalescent Hospital in Cam Ranh Bay when it was attacked by Viet Cong sappers. Bowman discusses his tour in detail, including R

Thomas Bowman - War On Terror

Colonel Tom Bowman of Springfield, Illinois commanded a group of seventeen Illinois Army National Guard officers during a 2005-2006 deployment to Iraq. The group, officially known as Joint Forces Headquarters Forward-9, worked as a U.S. Army liaison team to the Multinational Division that was responsible for an area of Iraq south and east of Baghdad. The division’s commander and its largest contingent was Polish, but eleven other nations had contingents in the division as well. Colonel Bowman worked directly with the division’s senior command element, and oversaw the other Illinois officers, who were assigned to various staff sections throughout the division.

Tom Jones, Patrick Lam, Pham Thien Khac and Tom Bowman - Vietnam War

Four Vietnam era survivors share their personal stories about the Vietnam War and the way it ended. Tom Bowman and Tom Jones were veterans of the war. Bowman shared his vivid memories of returning to the United States, and Tom Jones discussed the difficulties he experienced adjusting to civilian life once back home. Both Patrick Lam and Pham Thien Khac were Vietnamese boat people. Mr. Pham served in the South Vietnamese Army, and after the fall of Vietnam spent a year in a reeducation camp. Patrick was a young boy in 1979 when he escaped the country. The evening started with an excerpt of a PBS documentary entitled 'Last Days in Vietnam' followed by the panel discussion.

George Boyd - World War II

George Boyd was seven years old when Pearl Harbor was bombed on December 7, 1941. Boyd recounts the war experience from a child's perspective. He recalls the rationing of items such as gasoline, meat, sugar, and tires and the war efforts of his community including the donation of scrap metals, buying war bonds, and growing victory gardens.

Greg Bradley - IHSA

Greg Bradley discusses his involvement with the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) as an athlete, high school coach, high school principal, member of the Illinois High School Association Board of Directors and the longtime treasurer for the IHSA. He discusses the treasurer's duties and discusses the organization's finances. He also looks at the challenges faced by high school principals in managing athletics programs and other activities. Finally, Bradley talks about some of the many contentious issues that the IHSA has dealt with during his tenure as its treasurer.

Rich Bradley - Governor Jim Edgar Project

Rich Bradley started his life-long career in radio while still in college in the early 1960s, and in 1974 helped create a public radio station at Sangamon State University (renamed the University of Illinois - Springfield in 1995). He served as the news director for the NPR affiliated station for thirty years, and is considered the father of the Illinois Public Radio Network. During his tenure, he covered the administrations of four governors, from Gov. Jim Thompson through Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

Rich Bradley - Journalists View

Rich Bradley started his life-long career in radio while still in college in the early 1960s, and in 1974 helped create a public radio station at Sangamon State University (renamed the University of Illinois - Springfield in 1995). He served as the news director for the NPR affiliated station for thirty years, and is considered the father of the Illinois Public Radio Network. During his tenure, he covered the administrations of four governors, from Gov. Jim Thompson through Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

Philip Bradshaw - Modern Era

Philip Bradshaw is a farmer with wide ranging leadership experiences in a wide range of agriculture organizations, community and historical initiatives, including the historic New Philadelphia Project. He discusses the future he sees for agriculture, here and abroad.

Brian Brady - Civics Education

Brian Brady discusses how the Mikva Challenge, created in 1998 by Judge Abner and Zoe Mikva, has encouraged youth from under-resourced neighborhoods to become involved in civic activities. This organization was active in supporting the movement to create Illinois's Civics High School requirement. Now located in twelve sites nationwide, the Mikva Challenge provides in-school support services to middle and high schools, promotes community action projects, assists the development of citywide youth councils, generates civics curricula and holds elections in Mikva Action Civics programs. Project Soapbox was also explained as a way to develop Action Civics.

Mary Bremer - Family Memories

Mary (Cagle) Horman Bremer was born and raised in tiny Metropolis, Illinois. She discusses the family's hard times during the depression, and her experiences on the home front while her husband Louis Horman was in the army during World War II. Upon his return, Louis attended the University of Illinois on the G.I. Bill before moving the family back to Metropolis. Mary discusses all of this during her interview, as well as offering personal insights into life as a homemaker during the 1950s and ‘60s, as a family caregiver and also as a leader in her community.

Terry Brennan - Family Memories

Terry Brennan began his lifelong love of music at a young age by playing in his father's band. He also played for various other groups and was performing in bars and jazz clubs throughout central Illinois by the age of twelve. After graduating from the University of Illinois with a M.S. in Music Education, Terry began teaching music at various high schools throughout Illinois. Terry has played in a variety groups throughout his life, and led his own band, the Terry Brennan Trio, for seventeen years. He is widely regarded as one of the best jazz keyboard players in central Illinois.

Parris Brewer - Modern Era

Parris Brewer grew up in Chicago, yet living the life of a farm boy. After being in trouble, he was directed to Growing Homes where he excelled in their seven month program. He became their marketing coordinator, selling fruits and vegetables in the farmers’ market and to local restaurants.

Kirk Brown - Governor Jim Edgar Project

Kirk Brown served with the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) from its creation in 1972 to his retirement in 2002. He spent twelve of his thirty years as IDOT Secretary, serving under governors Jim Edgar and George Ryan. The agency faced many key issues during his leadership, including the Great Flood of 1993.

Magda Brown - World War II

Magda (Perlstein) Brown was born in 1927 and raised in Miskolc, Hungary, growing up in a happy and loving home. Her world was shattered, however, when the Nazis first herded her family into a Jewish ghetto, then shipped the entire family to the Auschwitz- Birkenau concentration camp in Poland. Her parents and many other relatives perished there, but Magda was sent to Allendorf, Germany where she worked as a slave laborer in a munitions factory. As the allies approached, she was forced into a death march to a new location but managed to escape and was discovered in a barn by American troops. She immigrated to the United States after the war and settled in the Chicago area. In the 2000s Magda dedicated her life to speaking out on the Holocaust.

Roger Brown - Modern Era

Roger I. Brown has always lived on the family grain and livestock farm. Armed with a degree from Illinois State University, he returned to farming after three years of teaching agriculture. He engaged in important agriculture roles, and served on the local school board during the model school consolidation.

Beverly Bruce - Korean War

Beverly 'Scotty' Bruce, came of age during World War II, then joined the Marines in 1951. By 1952 he was in Korea, assigned to the 1st Marine Division's Reconnaissance Company, a job that required him to make repeated trips into no-man's land to collect intelligence information.

Terry Bruce - Community College Project

Terry Bruce has served as CEO for the Illinois Eastern Community College System for over seventeen years. As an Illinois legislator for many years, both in the Illinois House and as a U.S. Congressman from 1985 to 1993, he brought years of legislative experience to his role in a system that included four separate college locations.

Charles Bruns - World War II

Charles Bruns served as an engineer in the 3rd Infantry Division during World War II. He was often on the frontlines and would diffuse mines to clear paths through minefields for infantryman. He was able to witness the atrocities at German concentration camp Dachau.

Iris Bryan - Community College Project

Iris Bryan discusses the history of McHenry County College from several perspectives, including her involvement in a successful referendum of 1967, that of a former student in the late 1970s (earning her associates degree in 1980), then as a journalist covering trustee meetings. He account covers the school’s history from 1967 to 2013.

Bon Bui - Vietnam War

Originally born in North Vietnam, the son of a Catholic family, Bon Bui and his family fled North Vietnam in 1954 after the communists took power and Vietnam was divided at the 17th parallel at the 1954 Geneva Conference. Bui joined the South Vietnamese Army, graduated from the Vietnamese National Military Academy in 1966, and later spent two years in the United States attending Marine Corps military training. He was injured during the Tet Offensive of 1968. After the North's victory in 1975, Bui became a prisoner of war, and was finally released in 1985. He was eventually granted refugee status in 1990 and came to the United States with his family.

Ola Bundy - Girls Basketball

One of the early leaders of girls' athletics in Illinois, Ola Bundy was Assistant Executive Director of the Illinois High School Association. She believed that interscholastic sports should be the same for boys and girls. She worked tirelessly to achieve equality for girls and women in sports.

Norman Burdick - Community College Project

Dr. Norman Burdick, who taught English and Communication while at Carl Sandburg College from 1980 to 2013, talks at length about the school’s history, his teaching experiences in the English/Communication divisions and about the school’s unionization process. Dr. Brudick also served as a Union President and helped the Colleges’ Mentoring Program.

Gary Burgard - Vietnam War

Gary Burgard was working as an instructor pilot in Jacksonville, Illinois prior to his induction into the U.S. Army in the mid 1960s. By April, 1968 he was serving in South Vietnam as an infantry sergeant with the 9th Infantry Division near Saigon. He then was transferred to a MACV (Military Assistance Command-Vietnam) team south of Saigon near the Mekong delta. Burgard was injured by enemy fire twice, and later received the Bronze Star Medal,and the Army Commendation Medal for heroism. He returned to the United States in March, 1969.

Hale Burge - World War II

Hale Burge was an airplane mechanic in the Army Air Force during World War II. He was stationed in the Aleutian Islands, where American forces were stationed to prevent Japanese expansion. As an airplane mechanic, he worked on numerous aircraft, including P-40 (Warhawk) fighters.

Edward M Burke - General Interest

Edward M. Burke worked as a police officer during the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago. He was on the convention floor at Chicago's Stockyards International Amphitheater on the south side of town. The Convention was marked by dramatic confrontations inside the Convention hall, and violence and chaos in downtown Chicago, where thousands of protesters had gathered to demonstrate against the war and the Democratic Party. Burke discusses his experiences in depth, including the time he informed Mayor Richard J. Daley about an altercation involving CBS reporter Dan Rather and a Chicago police officer.

Shirley Burkovich - Baseball

Shirley Burkovich played in the All-American Professional Baseball League from 1949 to 1951, beginning her baseball career when she was only sixteen years old and still in high school. She spent her first year with the Muskegon Lassies, and the 1950 season with the Springfield Sallies and Chicago Colleens, a pair of teams that played throughout the east, introducing new audiences to the league. For her final season, Burkovich played on the Rockford Peaches. By the end of the 1951 season she could see that the league was slowly dying, so she left the sport she loved for a full time job with Pacific Bell. Many years later, Shirley had a small cameo role in the classic film, "A League of Their Own."

Dr. Michael Burlingame - Historians Speak

Dr. Michael Burlingame. one of the most respected Lincoln scholars in American, discusses his life spent studying Abraham Lincoln. As a psychohistorian, his "The Inner World of Abraham Lincoln" (1994) startled this subfield of Lincoln studies. Extensive work in Lincoln documents, many previously unpublished, enormously expanded the published sources for studying Lincoln's behind-the-scenes personal life and wartime work. His discovery in 1994 and publication in 2000 of key passages about Mary Lincoln's stealing, censored from the Browning diary (1925), made national news.

Kristin Burns - Alternatives in Education

Kristin Burns discusses her involvement at Keith Country Day School in Rockford, Illinois, where she has taught history, government and economics since 2008. She tells about the school's history dating back to 1916, and its various locations in Rockford. Kristin reviews the school‘s philosophy, student application and selection process, tuition and scholarship opportunities, its curriculum, the school's organizational structure, school funding, accreditation, and extracurriculars. She also examines the challenges and the advantages of being an independent school located in Rockford.

Jim Burrus - Modern Era

A third generation farmer, Jim Burrus has shifted from traditional methods to raising organically certified beef strictly on pasture, believing that grains aren’t meant for a bovine’s stomach. He also raises chickens on grass in unique movable pens. He markets on the web and to meat lockers.

Christopher Busse - Civics Education

Christopher Busse, a teacher at O‘Fallon Township High School, discusses how civics education is being taught at a large Metro East high school. He talks about Illinois's new social studies standards, the process of becoming a Democracy School, and the interdisciplinary approach he takes in teaching civics. Busse also discusses the training provided to area teachers on how to teach civics, which includes media literacy, controversial subjects and the use of service projects. He reviews the course content for freshmen civics, senior government, and the resources available for the teachers.

Cindy Butkovich - Girls Basketball

Cindy Adams Butkovich taught physical education at Richwood High School in Peoria, where she helped launch interscholastic teams for girls in basketball and softball. In 1975, she began working for the Illinois High School Association where she was instrumental in implementing the first Illinois state girls' basketball tournament in 1977. She worked with Ola Bundy during her time at the IHSA and later worked for the men's basketball program at the University of Illinois.

Robert Butler - Pension Crisis in Illinois

Robert Butler, the long serving Mayor of Marion, Illinois since 1963, and a participant in the 1970 Illinois State Constitutional Convention, discusses the state's severe pension shortfall from that unique perspective. Mayor Butler discusses the home rule language in the constitution and the document's pension clause. The home rule inclusion gave municipalities greater authority over operations without legislative oversight. He covers the problems faced by local governments due to state mandates and legislative requirements that lead to local financial problems. Butler also discusses the challenges communities now face with the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund as well as fire and police retirement plans.

Francis Callaghan - World War II

Francis Callaghan served with the U.S. Army's 530th Engineer Light Ponton Company, which saw action in the Philippines in 1944 and 1945 on both Leyte and Luzon Islands. Callaghan's company built bridges during the Army's advance down Luzon Island, and also performed a wide variety of other tasks. While his unit was constructing a bridge across the Pasig River in Manila, Francis traveled through the dangerous streets of Manila and found his cousin and his three young daughters at the Bilibid Prison Camp. They had been held captives by the Japanese for over three years.

Gene Callahan - General Interest

For over 40 years Gene Callahan worked in the political arena, first as a journalist with the Illinois State Register (Springfield) from 1957 to 1967, then as assistant press secretary for Gov. Sam Shapiro, and Lt. Gov. Paul Simon's press secretary until 1972. In 1974 he began his long association with Alan Dixon, when Dixon served as Illinois state Treasurer, then Illinois Secretary of State. When Dixon moved to the U.S. Senate in 1981, Callahan became his chief of staff and most trusted political advisor. After Dixon lost a reelection bid to Carol Mosley Braun in 1992, Callahan worked for several years as the chief lobbyist for Major League Baseball, fighting to preserve its exemption from the Sherman Antitrust Act. His long friendship with Senator Dick Durbin dates back to the days when both worked for Lt. Gov. Simon.

Gerald Campbell - Rochester

Jerry Campbell grew up in Rochester, Illinois on the very same property that his great great grandfather purchased in 1858. The Campbell family has been a part of the Rochester community ever since. The family is very proud of their connection to Abraham Lincoln, that he purportedly delivered a speech on their property in 1832 when he was running for the state legislature. The speech took place in front of what was later the home of Nelson Campbell in front of a walnut tree.

Shegan Campbell - Alternatives in Education

Shegan Campbell talks about the creation of Kids Science Labs as a model to help promote a child's interest in science education through creativity and curiosity. Campbell co-founded KSL in 2010 with Keith Norsym. Kids Science Labs has locations in Chicago, Northbrook, Wheaton, and Seattle, with a future location planned in Vernon Hills, Illinois. The Labs are geared for ages 2-14 through summer camps, yearly on-site courses, field trips, birthday parties, day camps, and programs during school breaks.

William 'Bill" Cantrall - World War II

Bill Cantrall grew up in Athens, Illinois, but when war came to America in December, 1941, he was repeatedly rejected for military service due to some scarring on his lungs. He finally found a way to serve his country by joining the American Field Service (an entirely volunteer organization), and spent the rest of the war driving an ambulance in Italy and into Yugoslavia for the British 8th Army. He supported troops from many nations, including Indians, Poles, Gurkhas, Brits and others. Cantrall wrote about his experiences in his book, "Just Like a Taxi: Frontline Ambulance, Italy, 1944-1945."

Dean Cantù - Civics Education

Department of Education director discusses civics education for teachers

John Capasso - School District Reorganization

John Capasso is a career educator who began his career at Chenoa, Illinois. Later he became the high school principal at the nearby Minonk-Duna-Rutland High School. When the district reorganized with Toluca and Wenona, creating the Fieldcrest Community Unit School District #6, Dr. Capasso became the Assistant Superintendent. He later became Superintendent, and in 2001 he became Superintendent of Leroy, and a year later, at Prairie Central. This interview explores the consolidation of three school districts into the Fieldcrest Community Unit School District in 1982, and later the annexation of Chenoa into Prairie Central in 2004.

Charles Carey - Modern Era

Charlie Carey comes from a long line of Chicago Board of Trade veterans, and grew up in the business. Following his father's unexpected death, Charlie took over his seat on the exchange in 1978. In 2003 he became Chairman of the CBOT. Charlie explains the mechanics of the commodities exchange, and discusses how the business has evolved from purely agricultural commodities to today's market of options, futures, and the emergence of financials and derivatives. The interview includes a view of the trading floor with Charlie explaining the action.

Velma Carey - Springfield African-American History Foundation

Parent and community volunteer; plaintiff in school desegregation lawsuit

Carolyn Carlson - Rochester

Carolyn (Cari) Carlson shares stories from her childhood in the Chicago area, many of them based on her parents’ Swedish customs. After her marriage to Clayton Carlson in 1947, they moved to Rochester, Illinois. Ninety-one at the time of this interview, Cari also shares many memories of Rochester. She has been in several groups over the years that celebrate the community’s history.

Richard J. Carlson - Governor Jim Thompson Project

Richard Carlson began his service in Illinois State government as a legislative staff intern in 1966, then worked as a staff assistant during the state's Constitutional Convention in 1970. He began working for the Gov. Jim Thompson administration in 1977, first on the Governor's program staff, where he worked on executive reorganization and on environmental policy issues. In 1981 Thompson appointed him to be the director of the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, a position he held until 1988 when he moved to the private sector.

Margaret Carter - Modern Era

Margaret Carter discusses her life growing up on the farm during the 1930s. She attended Monmouth College, lost her first husband in WWII, became a kindergarten teacher, and remarried.

Lt. Lauren Carthan - Alternatives in Education

Lt. Lauren Carthan, a 22 year veteran of the United States Navy, discusses her involvement with the East Aurora High School's Naval Junior ROTC (NJROTC) program, where she served as its first female instructor and now as the Senior Naval Instructor. She discusses the history of East Aurora’s NJROTC program which began in 1996. At the time of the interview, the program ranked as the nation’s largest with over 600 students involved. Her review includes the NJROTC curriculum, cadet activities, cadet competition, and the program's role in the school and in the community.

Dr. Richard Carwardine - Historians Speak

British scholar Richard Carwardine discusses his years studying Abraham Lincoln. He was named Rhodes Professor of American History and Institutions at Oxford University in 2002, a post he held until 2009. He then served as president of Corpus Christi College, Oxford, from 2010 until his retirement in 2016. In 2002 he was asked to write a biography of Lincoln entitled "Lincoln: A Life of Purpose and Power," which was published in 2007 and for which he won the prestigious Lincoln Prize. His second book on Lincoln was published in 2017 and is entitled "Lincoln's Sense of Humor."

Jay Castro - Vietnam War

Raymon (Jay) Castro grew up in the Mississippi River town of Savanah, Illinois, the son of Mexican immigrant parents. Jay excelled in athletics in high school, then enlisted in the Navy in 1966, becoming a frogman (the precursor to the Navy SEALs). In late 1967-early 1968 he participated in operations off the coast of northern South Vietnam. Castro returned to Vietnam in mid-1969, this time serving for fifteen months on a river patrol boat in South Vietnam's delta region. During that tour Castro was wounded once and received two bronze stars. After his service in Vietnam, Castro became an artist, and also joined a SEAL Team in the U.S. Navy Reserves.

Morrie Caudill - Korean War

Morrie Caudill is a Korean War veteran. He deployed to Korea in early 1953 and was assigned to A Company ("Kitty Able") of the 10th Combat Engineers. Morrie's company supported the infantry regiments defending Outpost Harry in June of 1953.

Joshua Cauhorn - Public School Funding

Josh Cauhorn reviews research he conducted while at Loyola University on Illinois' public school funding. This research included a review of the 1970 Illinois State Constitution and the constitution's Article X on Education. He also studied the 1973 School Reform Act, which led to what he describes as a golden age of state funding at 48%. Cauhorn's research also examined the decline in state funding since that time, as well as the various lawsuits that followed. Finally, he discussed the Education Funding Advisory Council's 2014 recommendations that later led in 2017 to a new Illinois School Funding evidence-based model.

Don Cavallini - Community College Project

Don Cavallini was a longtime English and History teacher at Lexington High School in Illinois. He later became the Director of Outreach and Adjunct Faculty teacher for Heartland Community College. He now serves as archivist for the College, and has served as a school trustee at Heartland Community College for four years. This interview reviews how the community college was created by state legislation and how it has developed at its current Normal, Illinois sites.

Janis Cellini - Governor Jim Edgar Project

Janis Cellini served in Illinois state government for over twenty years, most notably as Personnel Director for Secretary of State Jim Edgar and then as Director of Personnel and Labor Relations during his years as governor. From 1982-1999, Cellini dealt extensively with Republican County chairmen on patronage issues, essentially serving as Edgar's 'patronage chief.'

Julie Cellini - Governor Jim Thompson Project

Julie Cellini was appointed to serve as the the Chair of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency by Governor Jim Thompson, and served as its chair from its creation in 1985 to 2012. During that time, she was the driving force behind the creation of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, and was involved in every aspect of its development. The Library opened in 2004, and the Museum opened in 2005 to world-wide acclaim. IHPA oversaw some 50 historic sites throughout Illinois.

Julie Cellini - IHPA legacy

Julie Cellini was appointed to serve as the the Chair of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency by Governor Jim Thompson, and served as its chair from its creation in 1985 to 2012. During that time, she was the driving force behind the creation of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, and was involved in every aspect of its development. The Library opened in 2004, and the Museum opened in 2005 to world-wide acclaim. IHPA oversaw some 50 historic sites throughout Illinois.

Susan Mogerman, Bob Coomer, and Julie Cellini - IHPA legacy

Julie Cellini became the first chair of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency in 1985, and for the next twenty years spent much of her time and energy working toward creating a new facility to display the Illinois State Historical Library's extensive Lincoln Collection. By the mid 1990s she was joined by Agency Director Susan Mogerman, Sites Division Director Bob Coomer, and many others as they continued to work toward achieving their dream. In this panel discussion, the three 'creators' talk about the many ups and downs they experienced as they moved toward achieving that dream, resulting in the dedication of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in 2005.

Linda Chapa-LaVia - School District Reorganization

Linda Chapa-LaVia, the Illinois state Representative and Democrat from the 83rd District, shares her views in this interview on the often contentious issue of school district reorganizations and consolidations in Illinois's rural communities. As chair of the Education Committee, she oversaw the discussions on IL House Bill 1216 in 2012, which examined the appropriate number of school districts, their optimal enrollment, and locations where reorganization would be appropriate.Linda Chapa-LaVia, the Illinois state Representative and Democrat from the 83rd District, shares her views in these interviews on the often contentious issue of school district reorganizations and consolidations in Illinois's rural communities. As chair of the Education Committee, she oversaw the discussions on IL House Bill 1216 in 2012, which examined the appropriate number of school districts, their optimal enrollment, and locations where reorganization would be appropriate. Her work led to the creation of the Classroom First Commission, which was chaired by Lt. Governor Sheila Simon.

Dr. Dale Chapman - Community College Project

Dr. Dale Chapman has served as Lewis and Clark Community College's president for over twenty years, and discusses the school's history, and recent explosion in growth, in detail. Dr. Chapman became the school's president in 1992; the school also has a unique relationship with Monticello College, a two-year woman’s college in Godfrey, Illinois until its sale to Lewis and Clark in 1970.

A. Delinda Chapman - ERA Fight in Illinois

Delinda Chapman was active with the American Association of University Women, including a tour as President of AAUW-Illinois, Inc. for many years. The AAUW was a major backer of the efforts to pass the Equal Rights Amendment in Illinois, and Delinda was very much a part of those efforts. She was also the Great Lakes Regional Director and a national board member of AAUW. For ten years, beginning in 2001, Delinda produced and hosted the Springfield Access 4 cable television programs, “Equity for Women’ and “The Learning Curve.”

Gertrude Childers - Ronald Reagan In Dixon

Gertrude Childers was a native of Dixon, Illinois who, like many of her generation, regularly swam at Lowell Park in the Rock River near Dixon. One day in 1931 she was injured while swimming, and Ronald Reagan, the lifeguard on duty, swam out and rescued her. Childers also knew the other members of the Reagan family, citing Ronald's older brother, Neil Reagan, coming over to visit her older sister on many occasions.

Olive Clark - World War II

Olive Clark is the wife of World War II veteran George Cocker. When Cocker was stationed in Langley Field, Virginia, Clark worked for the United Service Organization (USO) where she made sandwiches, served soldiers, and attended dances. Later, Clark worked as secretary for the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics.

Lynne Cleverdon - Civil Rights Stories

1964 Mississippi voter registration drive

Darrell Clevidence - Community College Project

Darrell Clevidence joined the faculty of Carl Sandburg College in Galesburg, Illinois in 1969 when the college was just being launched, and taught math and science there for many years. He also served as a Division Chair and for five years he worked as the athletic department chair. Darrell retired from Carl Sandburg in 2010

Robert Clifton - School District Reorganization

Robert Clifton is a teacher and school administrator from Dallas City, located in west central Illinois. He discusses the school consolidation process, using his own experiences in the reorganization of three unit districts - Dallas City, LaHarpe and Carthage - into three elementary districts and one high school, that being Illini West.

Deborah B Cole - Delta Sigma Theta

Deborah Cole helped launch a Delta Sigma Theta sorority chapter while a student at Bradley University from 1968-1972, and while in Springfield, Illinois she also encouraged former members of the sorority to consider forming an alumnae chapter. Therefore, she is one of the charter members of the Springfield-Decatur area Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Alumnae chapter. She was instrumental in gathering enough sorority members, eighteen to be exact, to form a chapter covering both Springfield and Decatur.

Edyth Cole - Delta Sigma Theta

Edith Cole, a retired Illinois State Board of Education member, is also a charter member of the Springfield Decatur Area Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority. Edyth attended Wilberforce University in Wilberforce, Ohio in the late 1960s, where she pledged with the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Beta Chapter. Years later, after a successful career in education, she helped charter the Springfield-Decatur Area Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta, and served in leadership roles with that organization.

Rick Collins - Modern Era

As a youth, Rick Collins worked on farms. After attending the University of Illinois he specialized in restoring old houses and building new ones. Barns of all kinds are his passion; he tells of the kinds of barns and roofs from Europe and their differences, and the hardware and building methods in America.

Evelyn Conboy - Rochester

Evelyn Conboy grew up on the farm, and married William Conboy in 1953. She partnered with her husband as they farmed in rural Rochester. She moved to Rochester around 1958 following her husband’s death. She is the mother of seven children; her husband died when her youngest child was six years old.

Kristine Condon - Civics Education

Dr. Kristine Condon discusses the Illinois Civics Academy for Secondary Teachers (ICAT) which began in 2016 at Kankakee Community College (KCC). The training includes twenty-four hours of training for high school teachers and eight hours for K-8 teachers (ICAT Jr.) Condon also covers KCC’s Paralegal Program, Illinois's social studies standards, College/Career/Civic Life (C-3), and the Illinois Judicial Program,

Linda Connelly - Girls Basketball

Linda Connelly taught at Mattoon High School in Mattoon, Illinois, where she also coached the girl’s tennis and basketball teams. Although she considered herself young and inexperienced, her 1977 girl’s basketball team made it to the first girls' state basketball tournament in Illinois.

Ralph Contreras - World War II

Ralph Contreras, the son of a Mexican-American living in Dixon, Illinois, was sixteen during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. He immediately wanted to get into the Marines, but was not able to do so until 1943. His unit, the 6th Marine Division, saw action in Guam in July 1944 and in Okinawa in April 1945.

Robert Coomer - IHPA legacy

Bob Coomer served as Director of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency from 2004 until his retirement in 2007. Prior to holding this position, he had a long career in recreational and historic administration. He served as assistant bureau chief of the Illinois Department of Conservation from 1978 to 1985. Following the creation of the IHPA in 1985, he was transferred over to the new agency as Superintendent of Historic Sites and was responsible for setting up and overseeing the state's historic sites. In 2005, he became Agency Director, and helped to oversee the creation of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum (among many other duties).

Kevin Corbin - Baseball

Kevin Corbin worked as a batboy for the St. Louis Cardinals from the 1995 season (following baseball's disastrous strike year of 1994), until he graduated from St. Louis University in 2000. During those years, most of which Tony LaRussa managed the team, Kevin was working as the team's batboy for the epic home run race between Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa in 1998, and for the Cardinal's pennant race in 2000. During his years with the Cardinals, he saw many of baseball's greats, including Cal Ripken, Jnr., Ozzie Smith and Willie McGhee, and shared numerous colorful stories about his experiences.

Dorothy Cordier - World War II

Dorothy Cordier is the wife of George Cordier, a Marine veteran of the Pacific theater in WW II. George Cordier went off to basic training at Parris, Island, South Carolina while Dorothy stayed at home with their son Richard. George started the war as a signal corps wireman assigned to the 3rd Marine Division, and was injured during the landings at Guam in 1944.

George Cordier - World War II

George Cordier is a Marine veteran of the Pacific theater in WW II. George started the war as a signal corps wireman in the 3rd Joint Assault Signal Company. The unit went to Guadalcanal for training, then participated in the invasion of Guam as part of the 3rd Marine Division. George describes his duties in combat as a wireman, and his injury after only a couple of days of service on Guam.

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