The Illinois State Historical Society
Officers

A Publication of The Illinois State Historical Society

July-August 2007                                                                                                                                         Volume 10 Number 4

5     Letters

5     News

13  From the archives

24  Obituary: Gunnar Benson (1910-2007)

31  The honor roll

8     Boz in Egypt
At the height of his poularity English novelist Charles Dickens visited southern Illinois and the American Bottom. It was the ultimate disappointment in a tour that started well in Boston and went downhill from there

12  Letters from home
"Excuse this bad scribble as I am hard at work shucking corn"

14  2007 Orndorff Scholarship winner Rumble in the Wigwam: The Republican National Convention of 1860 and the Story of the City That Shaped It

19  Sculpting Lincoln, Part 5
"Lincoln the Orator," and "Lincoln at the Crossroads of Decision"

21  A memorable spring for markers

25  Dreaming the future

28  Road tripping

Spring seems the season for historical markers. The Illinois State Historical Society dedicated 8 new or newly restored markers between March and June this year, a record in our collective memory (see the highlights beginning on page 21). While the fervor seems to have subsided, the summer crop still shows considerable promise, with separate dedications planned in the "ghost towns" of Cardiff and Wanborough later this year. To learn more about the Society's historical marker program, visit our website at www.historyillinois.org.

The July-August issue of Illinois Heritage visits Egypt and the American Bottom in Herbert Channick's "Boz in Egypt," which recounts English novelist Charles Dickens' misadventures in Illinois during the early 1840s. Dickens' summer­time memories of Cairo were woven into Martin Chuzzlewit, a satirical novel that lampooned Americans and did little to raise property values south of Centralia. Unfortunately, he never saw the Garden of the Gods or Bell Smith Springs.

This issue also includes the winning essay in the 2007 Verna Ross Orndorff Scholarship competition, Mt. Carmel High School Senior Frank Pucci's "Rumble in the Wigwam," an excellent entry that started out as a project for the Chicago History Fair last spring.

We also say farewell to past president Gunnar Benson, age 96, who led our 108-year-old organization from 1969-1970, and left his footprints all across northwest Illinois. I never met but already miss him.

As always, we welcome your comments, criticisms, and concerns. Be part of your Heritage; be part of our future.

—William Furry
Executive Director