School board meetings about possible expansions to schools, parents complaining about the school’s curriculum and kids …passing the ladle to refill the school’s water bucket? As the 2016 school year comes to a close, we’ll begin a multi-part look at schools whose doors have sadly been closed permanently. For this first installment, we will look…
Source: United States Department of Health and Human Services Now that we’re clear from flu season, let’s all take a minute to be thankful for not being affected by an epidemic. In September 1918, the Great Lakes Naval Base was hit hard and fast, spreading the Spanish Influenza faster than doctors and hospitals could keep…
Jane Austen fans, rejoice! Here’s a modern adaptation of Pride and Prejudice that really works. It’s one in a series of Austen classics that have been re-written by best-selling authors: so far Val McDermid has written a 21st-century version of Northanger Abbey and Alexander McCall Smith took on Emma. But this book is the best…
Souvenir book from the 28th International Eucharistic Congress in Chicago and Mundelein, Illinois, June 20 - 23, 1926 Over the years our hometowns have hosted famous people and exciting events, but for attendance numbers and worldwide fame, nothing can match the 28th International Eucharistic Congress held at the St. Mary of the Lake Seminary in…
On the first page of Jane Steele, Lyndsay Faye’s fierce female protagonist confesses that she is a murderer. “Of all my many murders, the first was the most important.’’ Thus begins her autobiography recounting how she became a killer. Steele is enamored with a new novel called Jane Eyre and finds she shares similarities with…
Notorious RBG. It sounds like a rap album and that’s kind of the point. RBG (Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, as she is more formally known) may not be laying down recording tracks, but she is one tough lady. She’s hung on at the court through cancer, the passing of her husband, and other…
Next time you're at the Cook Park location of the Cook Memorial Public Library, wander downstairs and find the local history exhibit case. Featuring items from the Libertyville-Mundelein Historical Society collection, the exhibit refreshes three to four times a year. Previous exhibits have featured vintage toys, Berggren Trayner dishes, lusterware, and Christmas ornaments depicting Libertyville…
We just got word that the database American Ancestors will be available for free now until April 13. American Ancestors contains records provided by the New England Historic and Genealogical Society, the oldest genealogy society in the United States. Usually a "free access" only allows access to selected parts of the database; this offer is unusual…
How many 17-year-olds could hold it together when their father is institutionalized and their mother disappears? Lucille Bennett, the heroine of this affecting young adult novel, is one tough teen because she has to do just that. Lucille suddenly finds herself having to get through her senior year while taking care of her nine-year-old sister,…
Clara Averill Colby was born in Milwaukee in 1878 to Charles and Laura Averill. Unusual for her time, Clara attended the Columbia School of Music where she pursed a degree in public debate. After graduation, she continued to live with her parents and became a founding member of the Alpha Club, a group that was responsible…
