Author
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.
After Illinois achieved statehood, new settlers poured into central Illinois throughout the...
Jared L. Olar
March 2, 2018
On Friday, March 2, at 11 a.m., the Pekin Public Library will...
Jared L. Olar
February 23, 2018
It was less than a decade from the creation of the Illinois...
Jared L. Olar
February 16, 2018
Following the conclusion of George Rogers Clark’s Illinois Campaign in 1779 during...
Jared L. Olar
February 9, 2018
In the course of our survey of the events of history that...
Jared L. Olar
February 2, 2018
On Friday, Feb. 2, at 11 a.m., the Pekin Public Library will...
Jared L. Olar
January 26, 2018
Viewers of the the PBS genealogy series “Finding Your Roots,” hosted by...
Jared L. Olar
January 22, 2018
French colonists were the first Europeans to settle in the Illinois Country...
Jared L. Olar
January 20, 2018
As we saw in this column last time, the vast Illinois Country...
Jared L. Olar
January 12, 2018
The British had possession of the Illinois Country for a mere 12...
Jared L. Olar
January 5, 2018
Previously in this column, we reviewed the period from the early 1600s...
Jared L. Olar
December 29, 2017
When French missionaries and explorers first came to the Illinois Country in...
Jared L. Olar
December 22, 2017
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