Illinois

Name: Legendary Locals of Chicago Lawn and West Lawn
Brand: Kathleen J. Headley
SKU: 9781467102155
Price: 24.99 USD
Availability: InStock

Illinois history exceeds the capacity of the Sears Catalog for categorization and the World’s Fair for spectacle. And no matter what the self-appointed tour guide at the local diner might say, the heritage of the land of Lincoln doesn’t end with Capone’s demise. Like the Chicago Loop, the Prairie State’s past seems to defy straightforward chronology—Cahokia offered a version of urban sprawl more than a thousand years before the first Windy City skyscraper. From Park Forest to Cave-in-Rock, scan our shelf of Illinois history books with the unflagging enthusiasm of a Wrigley Field hot dog vendor. [View all Illinois books]

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Legendary Locals of Chicago Lawn and West Lawn

Paperback

$24.99

Legendary Locals of Moline

Paperback

$24.99

Legendary Locals of Peoria

Paperback

$24.99

Legendary Locals of Oak Park

Paperback

$24.99

Legendary Locals of Wheaton

Paperback

$24.99

Legendary Locals of Chicago Lawn and West Lawn

9781467102155

$24.99

Nestled in the middle of the southwest side of Chicago are the neighborhoods of Chicago Lawn, West Lawn, and Marquette Manor. All three border picturesque Marquette Park, which intertwines their histories. The pages of Legendary Locals of Chicago Lawn and West Lawn are filled with tales of people who make up the story, or, in some cases, add spice to the story of this section of the city of Chicago. Highlighted locals include the lady known as the Witch of Wall Street and the Roman Catholic priest who took her to court to save his parishioners from deadly disease, the gentlemen known as the Dean of 63rd Street and the Mayor of 69th Street, as well as the Polka King and the Father of Little League. Through their actions, the people featured have impacted the neighborhood. It may be due to acts of kindness or dedication to a cause; they might be builders; they might be gangsters; they might be store owners, but they are all interesting figures.

Legendary Locals of Moline

9781467102353

$24.99

David Benton Sears could be considered the father of Moline, Illinois. It was upon his land that Moline was platted in 1843. It was because of his brush dam on the Mississippi River between the Moline shore and Rock Island—known today as Arsenal Island—that significant industry began to develop. Grain and lumber mills were the first, but farm implement and related factories soon found prominence after John Deere moved his plow-making business here in 1848. It would not be long before immigrants, particularly the Swedish, Belgian, and German, were drawn to Moline for the jobs and opportunities and added to the growing and prosperous population. Legendary Locals of Moline tells the known and not-so-well-known stories of many of the early and the more-recent individuals who have contributed to the fabric of the community, both locally and nationally. Historical and current photographs illustrate those who affected business and industry, culture, academia, public service, organizations and philanthropies, and sports and entertainment.

Legendary Locals of Peoria

9781467101738

$24.99

Peoria harkens back to the 1670s glory days of the French voyageurs and became the now-familiar face of Americana—its townsfolk have touched every aspect of national and international life, often significantly. In comedy, Fibber McGee and Molly, Charles Correll, Richard Pryor, Sam Kinison, and even Bishop Sheen with his witty homilies have made Peoria the Habitat of Humor. Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique jump-started the 1960s feminist movement, while Philip José Farmer's The Lovers rocked the 1950s sci-fi universe. Dr. C.T. Vivian, Dr. Romeo Garrett, and John Gwynn Jr. held the frontline against racism. Representing the best of society's core values, Barb and Dick Hammond founded Friends of the Children of Haiti, a medical organization tending to the year-round needs of the earth's poorest. And unheralded Bill Noel has shouldered the sorrows and burdens of others who have leaned on him for decades. When it comes to all the legendary locals, they play in Peoria . . . and the world.

Legendary Locals of Oak Park

9781467100861

$24.99

Founded in the 1830s by Joseph and Betty Kettlestrings, an intrepid young couple from Yorkshire, England, the small settlement of Oak Park grew slowly until the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. Before the ashes had cooled, Oak Park's population boomed as displaced families relocated into the community on the west edge of Chicago. By the turn of the 20th century, this thriving village became a magnet attracting ever-larger numbers of prosperous, progressive people to settle in what many referred to as the finest of the streetcar suburbs. In the 1960s and 1970s, Oak Park became widely recognized for encouraging racial and ethnic diversity. Though best known for such residents as architect Frank Lloyd Wright and novelist Ernest Hemingway, Oak Park also lays claim to scores of others who have shone brightly in the national spotlight, as well as current folks who are passionate, daring, and dynamic. More than 100 noteworthy Oak Parkers— past and present—are featured in this volume, from writers and restaurateurs to mobsters and movie stars.

Legendary Locals of Wheaton

9781467100113

$24.99

A city is not merely its structures but also its citizens, the men and women working hard and raising families, aspiring to ideals or lofty dreams. Since its founding as a farm community by tough New England sodbusters, Wheaton has provided residency for an amazing array of personalities, from ex-slave William Osborne to astronaut Shannon Lucid, from sculptors to preachers, from intensely focused athletes to ordinary citizens performing extraordinary, selfless acts. As Carl Sandburg, poet laureate of Illinois, mused, These are the people, with flaws and failings, with patience, sacrifice, devotion, the people. Portraying glimpses of their humor, insight, dedication, and ability, this book seeks to celebrate only a fraction of these fascinating individuals, the true heart and soul of the city—and the nation.