Local History Program Coordinator at the Pekin Public Library. I oversee the library’s local history room collection, write a weekly local history column/weblog for the library, and present local history programs at the library and in the community.

Author's Articles

In last week’s installment of our series on the 1 March 1938...

Jared L. Olar

December 7, 2023

This week’s installment of our series on the death of Betty Crabb...

Jared L. Olar

November 30, 2023

In this week’s installment of this retelling of the story of Betty...

Jared L. Olar

November 22, 2023

Today we continue the tragic and sensational story of the death of...

Jared L. Olar

November 16, 2023

On Tuesday, 1 March 1938, Pekin Daily Times readers were met with the...

Jared L. Olar

November 9, 2023

One of Pekin’s more recent downtown businesses is a café and gift...

Jared L. Olar

October 26, 2023

The 1974 Pekin Sesquicentennial volume devotes four paragraphs to the story of...

Jared L. Olar

October 19, 2023