Soon anyone will be able to “hear” what life was like 50 years ago in Joliet and it won’t be from someone reading a book, but from people who lived through some of the hard times of the early 20th century. The Joliet Junior College Library and Joliet Area Historical Museum (JAHM) have teamed to digitize 55 audio recordings that offer first-hand accounts of life in the Joliet area during the first half of the 20th Century. The project, which consists of more than 3,300 minutes of audio cassette reels, was funded by the JJC Foundation, with support from the nonprofit Experimental Sound Studio in Chicago. The audio comes from interviews conducted 50 years ago with residents born near the beginning of the 20th Century. The digitization is an expansion of the library’s recent transcription of the interviews. “Listeners will hear about the hardships faced by individuals and families and also a broader perspective on the Great Depression and the world wars,” said Amy Chellino, archive specialist with the JJC Library. “The interactions are timeless conversations between generations and are reminders of the ephemeral moments we have in our lifetimes.”
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JJC, Museum team up to digitally preserve early 20th century sounds of Joliet
The Joliet Junior College Library and Joliet Area Historical Museum (JAHM) have teamed to digitize 55 audio recordings that offer first-hand accounts of life in the Joliet area during the first half of the 20th Century.
Schumacher Family Farm exhibit on display at Joliet Historical Museum
Hundreds of people visited the Iron Bridge Trailhead at Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie over Labor Day weekend, and two of those visitors grew up at the historic site. Alvin (“Al”) and Robert (“Bob”) Schumacher brought together four generations of their extended families to what is now the Iron Bridge Trailhead on Sept. 4 to share their stories of growing up on the Schumacher family farm – “Fairview Farm.” For some of the children, it was the first visit to Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie to hear family stories about farm life in Illinois in the 1930s.
Digging deeper into Old Joliet Prison’s history
The Old Joliet Prison along Collins Street has an almost ominous presence and the history behind it is likely even more sinister.
More is likely to be revealed now that the City of Joliet has received notice of an award of a $35,000 grant from the National Park Service to prepare a National Register Historic District nomination for the Illinois State Penitentiary – Joliet (later renamed Joliet Correctional Center, commonly known as the “Old Joliet Prison”).
National Museum of African American Music Opens in Nashville
NNPA NEWSWIRE — From rock and roll to blues, jazz, and hip-hop, music is as much the African American way of life as the afro was Black people’s style in the 1970s. Finally honoring that history, the National Museum of African American Music (NMAAM) has opened in Nashville, Tenn.
Senate Passes Bill to Create African American Burial Grounds Network
NNPA NEWSWIRE — “We know that for too long in too many parts of our country, Black families were blocked from burying their loved ones in white cemeteries,” said Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio). “These men and women were freed slaves, civil rights champions, veterans, mothers, fathers, workers in communities. We need to act now before these sites are lost to the ravages of time or development,” Brown concluded.
