The Springfield and Central Illinois African-American History Museum is a museum of African-American history and culture located in Springfield in the U.S. state of Illinois. The museum was founded in 2012 by historical educator Douglas King, and moved to a permanent location adjacent to Springfield's Oak Ridge Cemetery in March 2016. The history museum is located in the former home of the Museum of Funeral Customs, which closed permanently in 2009. [1]
The museum celebrates the African-American history of Central Illinois. Exhibits and presentations include the presence of quasi-legal slavery in pioneer Springfield starting in 1819, the founding of the Pike County free village of New Philadelphia in 1836, and the construction of the Lincoln Colored Old Folks and Orphans Home in 1904. The museum and its volunteers have collected more than 700 oral histories of Central Illinoisans. The museum is backed and supported by the Springfield African American History Foundation. [2]
The museum is located at 1440 Monument Avenue, Springfield, Ill. [3]
Illinois is a state in the Midwestern United States. The Great Lakes are to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Ohio River to its south. Its largest metropolitan areas are Chicago and the Metro East region of Greater St. Louis. Other metropolitan areas include Peoria and Rockford, as well as Springfield, its capital, and Champaign-Urbana, home to the main campus of the state's flagship university. Of the fifty U.S. states, Illinois has the fifth-largest gross domestic product (GDP), the sixth-largest population, and the 25th-largest land area.
Springfield is the capital city of the U.S. state of Illinois and the county seat of Sangamon County. The city's population was 114,394 at the 2020 census, which makes it the state's seventh most-populous city, the second largest outside of the Chicago metropolitan area, and the largest in central Illinois. Approximately 208,000 residents live in the Springfield metropolitan area.
Royal Lakes is a village in Macoupin County, Illinois, United States. The population was 167 at the 2020 census, down from 197 in 2010.
Jacksonville is a city in Morgan County, Illinois, United States. The population was 17,616 at the 2020 census, down from 19,446 in 2010. It is the county seat of Morgan County. It is home to Illinois College, Illinois School for the Deaf, and the Illinois School for the Visually Impaired. Jacksonville is the principal city of the Jacksonville Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Morgan and Scott counties.
Mound City is a city and the county seat of Pulaski County, Illinois, United States. It is located along the Ohio River just north of its confluence with the Mississippi River. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 588.
Chatham is a village in Sangamon County, Illinois, United States. It is located 2.8 miles (4.5 km) south of Springfield and has a retail trade area that extends into four other municipalities, including Springfield. The population was 11,500 as of the 2010 census and estimated to be 13,008 as of 2019. The village lies along the original alignment of historic U.S. Route 66.
New Berlin is a village in Sangamon County, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,346 at the 2010 census, and 1,327 at a 2018 estimate. It is part of the Springfield Metropolitan Statistical Area. New Berlin is home to CUSD #16, New Berlin High School.
Herrin is a city in Williamson County, Illinois. The population was 12,352 at the 2020 census. The city is part of the Marion-Herrin Micropolitan Area and is a part of the Carbondale-Marion-Herrin, Illinois Combined Statistical Area with 123,272 residents, the sixth most populous Combined statistical area in Illinois.
The University of Illinois Springfield (UIS) is a public university in Springfield, Illinois. The university was established in 1969 as Sangamon State University by the Illinois General Assembly and became a part of the University of Illinois system on July 1, 1995. As a public liberal arts college, and the newest campus in the University of Illinois system, UIS is a member of the Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges. UIS is also part of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities and the American Council on Education. The campus' main repository, Brookens Library, holds a collection of nearly 800,000 books and serials in addition to accessible resources at the University of Illinois Chicago and University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campuses.
The Illinois House of Representatives is the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly. The body was created by the first Illinois Constitution adopted in 1818. The House under the current constitution as amended in 1980 consists of 118 representatives elected from individual legislative districts for two-year terms with no limits; redistricted every 10 years, based on the 2010 U.S. census each representative represents approximately 108,734 people.
The Illinois State Capitol, located in Springfield, Illinois, houses the legislative and executive branches of the government of the U.S. state of Illinois. The current building is the sixth to serve as the capitol building since Illinois was admitted to the United States in 1818. Built in the architectural styles of the French Renaissance and Italianate, it was designed by Cochrane and Garnsey, an architecture and design firm based in Chicago. Ground was broken for the new capitol on March 11, 1868, and the building was completed twenty years later for a total cost of $4.5 million.
The Old State Capitol State Historic Site, in Springfield, Illinois, is the fifth capitol building built for the U.S. state of Illinois. It was built in the Greek Revival style in 1837–1840, and served as the state house from 1840 to 1876. It is the site of candidacy announcements by Abraham Lincoln in 1858 and Barack Obama in 2007. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1961, primarily for its association with Lincoln and his political rival Stephen Douglas.
Moonshine is an unincorporated community located in Clark County, Illinois, United States. It has been featured on the CBS Sunday Morning Show. There is only one building in the entire town, and this was a grocery store built in 1912. It was later sold to Helen and Roy Tuttle in 1982, who created a restaurant that serves their famous Moonburger. One feature is that the store/restaurant has a guest-book with visitors from all 50 states and around the world. During the 2017 Terry Hammond Memorial Moonshine Lunchrun, a new record of 3362 sandwiches were served. The store is open from 6 AM until 1 PM Monday through Saturday, with the grill closing at 12:30.
Central Illinois is a region of the U.S. state of Illinois that consists of the entire central third of the state, divided from north to south. Also known as the Heart of Illinois, it is characterized by small towns and mid-sized cities. Agriculture, particularly corn and soybeans, as well as educational institutions and manufacturing centers, figure prominently.
Benedictine University at Springfield in Springfield, Illinois was a branch campus of Benedictine University, whose main campus is in Lisle, Illinois. It offered accelerated associate, bachelor's and graduate programs through the university's School of Graduate, Adult and Professional Education.
The Korean War National Museum (KWNM) was a private-sector non-profit Illinois-based corporation headquartered in Springfield, Illinois. The KWNM sought to create a museum and educational program to help people understand American participation in the Korean War (1950-1953), especially from the point of view of the men and women who served in combat and support roles. Founded in 1997, the KWNM reorganized in 2010 with the goal of expanding itself and building an accredited museum facility in New York City.
The Franklin P. Nelson Recreation Center is a 2,100-seat multi purpose ice arena and recreational facility located in Springfield, Illinois. The ice arena has two NHL regulation-sized ice sheets.
Shea's Gas Station Museum Center piece The Mahan Filling Station located on Route 66 in Springfield, Illinois was transformed from a working Texaco, and later Marathon, station into a museum by owner Bill Shea and his wife Helen. The museum contained an eclectic mix of vintage gas station memorabilia collected over the last fifty years including the original gas pumps, wooden phone booths, signs, photos, and other mementos reminiscent of old Route 66 service stations. In February 2000, the former Mahan's Station, rumored to be the oldest filling station in Illinois, was moved 21 miles to its current location at Fulgenzi's. It has since been fully restored. The museum's guestbook boasts visitors from all over Europe and Asia and has become a destination for international travelers exploring the Mother Road. Due to his commitment to preserving Route 66 history and gas station memorabilia, plus his many years of quality service to his customers, Bill Shea and his shop were inducted into the Route 66 Hall of Fame in 1993. The entire Shea family was inducted in 2002. Bill Shea died in December 2013 and the gas station was sold. The museum contents were auctioned in 2015. As of 2015, the old Filling Station building was in use as the Fulgenzi's Pizza & Pasta.
The Museum of Funeral Customs was located at 1440 Monument Ave. in Springfield, Illinois, US. It featured exhibits dealing with American funerary and mourning customs. The museum was near Oak Ridge Cemetery, the site of Abraham Lincoln's tomb. Collections at the museum included a re-created 1920s embalming room, coffins and funeral paraphernalia from various cultures and times, examples of post-mortem photography, and a scale model of Lincoln's funeral train. The museum hosted tours and special events and provided resources to scholars who are researching funeral customs. A gift shop provided books and funeral-related gifts, including coffin-shaped keychains and chocolates. The museum was closed in March 2009 due to poor attendance and handling of the museum's trust fund. The contents of the collection were transferred to the Kibbe Hancock Heritage Museum in Carthage, Illinois, in February 2011.