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

Only 11 months after the founding of Pekin, the survival of the nascent pioneer...

War

Our nation this weekend will mark the 82th anniversary of the Empire of Japan’s...

Tharp cabin painting

The seed from which Pekin grew was the log cabin that pioneer settler Jonathan...

Among the notables of Pekin’s past is a man whose remarkable career trajectory extended...

While Pekin traces its origin to the 1824 arrival of Jonathan Tharp from Ohio,...

War

As another Veterans Day draws near, it is an opportune time to recall the...

With the 2024 General Election just days away, this is an opportune time to...

One of Pekin’s notables from days gone by was a German-born businessman named William...

For about 90 years, St. Joseph Catholic Church has been the sole spiritual home...

Imagine the city of Pekin in 1980: The post-World War II Baby Boom had...