HistoryHistory
Molly Crusen Bishop: The Shelton Gang history, as told by a Shelton
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- Published on Friday, 29 April 2016 12:11
- Written by Molly Crusen Bishop
I first met Ruthie Shelton last fall at the North Branch of the Peoria Public Library, where she was speaking to a room filled to the brim with people. She was speaking about a book she’d written about her father Carl Shelton, of the infamous Shelton Gang....
Molly Crusen Bishop: The GAR Hall is a downtown historical gem
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- Published on Tuesday, 29 March 2016 16:49
- Written by Molly Crusen Bishop
The Greenhut Memorial GAR Hall is located at 416 Hamilton Boulevard in Peoria. I attended Spalding High School in downtown...
Molly Crusen Bishop: Woodruff got things done despite controversy
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- Published on Monday, 07 December 2015 18:13
- Written by Molly Crusen Bishop
Editor’s note: E.N. Woodruff was one of Peoria’s best known mayors during the last century. Columnist Molly Crusen Bishop used various sources to piece together this biography so our readers could get to know him better.
Edward Nelson Woodruff was born Feb. 2,...
Molly Crusen Bishop: Elizabeth Lindsay Davis an overlooked treasure
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- Published on Thursday, 11 February 2016 16:44
- Written by Molly Crusen Bishop
Elizabeth Lindsay Davis is one of Peoria’s overlooked treasures. Elizabeth was an African American woman born before the Civil War who used her brilliant mind to educate, write and fight for rights for other African Americans as well as for the women’s suffrage cause.
Pre-civil...
Molly Crusen Bishop: Fond memories of Corn Stock; proud of its diversity
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- Published on Thursday, 19 November 2015 17:31
- Written by Molly Crusen Bishop
The tall, green, curly slide standing tall amidst the trees is my first memory of upper Bradley Park. The next is around age 5, losing one of my cool new Buster Brown shoes with the shark tooth attached on the thick brown shoe string in the sandbox. I ran around in my cute Garanimals searching for that shoe. I never did find...
Molly Crusen Bishop: Annie Turnbo Malone, early entrepreneur
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- Published on Thursday, 04 February 2016 17:36
- Written by Molly Crusen Bishop
One of the most brilliant minds to ever come out of Peoria, Illinois was Annie Turnbo Malone. Separated from slavery by a single generation and a graduate of Peoria High School, she was one of the first African American women to attain the official status as millionaire.
Annie...
Molly Crusen Bishop: Discovering Mission Mart
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- Published on Thursday, 05 November 2015 18:35
- Written by Molly Crusen Bishop
Several years ago I discovered a wonderful secret at a local thrift store. I had decided to write full-time and found the perfect writing desk at Mission Mart on Sterling in Peoria. The desk is a teacher's desk from the 1940s and is solid oak. I purchased this piece of perfection for one hundred bucks.
Molly Crusen Bishop: When Ingersoll spoke, people listened
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- Published on Wednesday, 13 January 2016 15:14
- Written by Molly Crusen Bishop
Robert Green Ingersoll was one of the most popular speakers in the latter half of the 19th century. He lived in Peoria around the time of the Civil War....
Introducing our newest writer, Molly Crusen Bishop
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- Published on Friday, 23 October 2015 16:33
- Written by Molly Crusen Bishop
I grew up on Barker Avenue on the West Bluff, in the house my great grandparents built in the 1880s. I am the youngest of nine children and have five children of my own, plus one granddaughter.
My husband Douglas and I both...
