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

With special Juneteenth-related events planned next week that will honor the memory...

Jared L. Olar

June 8, 2023

War

Almost 45 years after Tazewell County’s collection of Civil War artifacts were...

Jared L. Olar

May 25, 2023

In our tenth and final installment of our series on researching the...

Jared L. Olar

May 18, 2023

A formal opening ceremony is drawing nearer for a new memorial park...

Jared L. Olar

May 15, 2023

Last week we saw that after the elder Judge Reardon passed away...

Jared L. Olar

May 11, 2023

As we continue with our series on the history of the house...

Jared L. Olar

May 4, 2023

As we continue our exploration of the story of the house at...

Jared L. Olar

April 27, 2023

This week we will begin to tell the story of the Reardon...

Jared L. Olar

April 20, 2023

As we saw last time, the Dietrich C. Smith family were the...

Jared L. Olar

April 13, 2023