Champaign County History Museum Stories

TELLING OUR STORY

The museum's primary educational mission is to tell the stories of Champaign County. We strive to tell those stories in various ways, including monthly articles curated by our volunteers and staff, our monthly recorded "History Talks," and our oral history collection that allows residents to tell their own stories. These resources are available to the public below.

Flatville: Where they've come from and where they're going

By Julia Schultz Flatville is potentially the most unassuming name for a town. Whether it’s a faux location used on improv night, the sunshine street used in a children’s cartoon, or the first name that comes to mind when giving an overeager tourist the name of your hometown – Flatville may appear to be the John Doe of villes. While calling Flatville home is not something that many people can say, those who can are residents in a town that is rich in German and Lutheran

Julia Schultz

Jan 18 min read

Giving Tuesday: Support CCHM & CCNDI

The Champaign County Newspaper Digitization Initiative at the Champaign County History Museum is within $2,500 of the goal to scan the St. Joseph Record from 1940 to 1962 and convert it to a researchable digital format. Once it is converted, it will be available free of charge on the Illinois Digital Newspaper Collection through the University of Illinois Library. https://idnc.library.illinois.edu/ Starting in December 1941, just after Pearl Harbor, Charles W. Dale, the edito

Will Best

Dec 2, 20252 min read

An Introduction to the EI League

By Janey Schmidt Fig 1: EI Game Photo America’s Favorite Pastime Baseball has long been known as America’s favorite pastime. The Eastern Illinois Baseball League began as the Champaign County League in 1933, just four years into the Great Depression.(1) With unemployment rates and morale at an all-time low, many Americans jumped at any chance they had to have a little bit of fun. After a meeting at the Bailey & Himes Sporting Goods Shop at 606 East Green Street, nine man

Janey Schmidt

Nov 23, 20256 min read

A New Digital Exhibition!

Willie Nelson / Photographed by Dennis Garrel Forty years ago, on September 22nd, 1985, Champaign County hosted its largest concert at Memorial Stadium. Following the success of the Live Aid concert, Farm Aid sought to elevate the struggles of small family-owned farms, which were at the time competing with an expansive, increasingly corporate agricultural economy, and extensive droughts. Over 78,000 people gathered at Memorial Stadium to attend hte 14-hour-long concert featur

Will Best

Sep 22, 20251 min read

Voices from the Past - Cliff Delong

By Rachel Mulick Cliff Delong on October 3rd, 1951 from the UIUC archives Cliff Delong, born in 1903, spent 1977 sharing stories of his childhood with the historians of Champaign County. Not only did he participate in a series of interviews with the Champaign County History Museum, he was also a part of the Champaign County Memory Bank project, which collected oral histories and newspaper interviews about life during the turn of the century. The result is a rich story of Delo

champaigncohistory

Aug 1, 20254 min read

A Tale of Two Cities-of-the-Dead

By Gabriel Foster This is Part 2 of the history of Mount Hope Cemetery. If you haven't read the first part make sure you go back and read...

Gabriel Foster

Jun 1, 202512 min read

A Garden for the Dead in the Big Grove

By Gabriel Foster Winner of the 2025 Adele Mazurek Suslick Award for Excellence in Research Early burials and the Old Urbana Cemetery...

Gabriel Foster

May 1, 20258 min read

The Story of the Sky Above Champaign County

By Brendan Gallian Winner of the 2025 Adele Mazurek Suslick Award for Excellence in Research FIG. 1: The University of Illinois current...

Brendan Gallian

Mar 1, 202512 min read

General Everything of Champaign County

By Kennis Murphey Edited by Will Best Fig. 1: Portrait of Samuel T. Busey Courtesy of the Champaign County Historical Archives General...

Kennis Murphey

Jan 29, 20257 min read

A Buried Mausoleum: The Burt Family in Mount Hope Cemetery

By Philo Wang Just south of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is a peaceful place of eternal rest—Mount Hope Cemetery....

Philo Wang

Dec 26, 20247 min read

Flatville: Where they've come from and where they're going

Jan 18 min read

Giving Tuesday: Support CCHM & CCNDI

Dec 2, 20252 min read

An Introduction to the EI League

Nov 23, 20256 min read

A New Digital Exhibition!

Sep 22, 20251 min read

Voices from the Past - Cliff Delong

Aug 1, 20254 min read

A Tale of Two Cities-of-the-Dead

Jun 1, 202512 min read

A Garden for the Dead in the Big Grove

May 1, 20258 min read

The Story of the Sky Above Champaign County

Mar 1, 202512 min read

General Everything of Champaign County

Jan 29, 20257 min read

Oral Histories

Our local history is best told by those who lived through it. To that end, the museum has in its collections a series of recorded oral histories told by residents. These recordings were made by museum staff and volunteers and have been digitized from audio cassette recordings. The opinions expressed by the interviewee are those of the subject and are intended for personal or educational purposes. All oral histories include full transcriptions that can be accessed by clicking the music note on the right of each recording.

These recordings are presented in an unedited format and are the copyright of the Champaign County History Museum. Duplication and use without the museum's expressed written permission are prohibited.

History Talks

Each month, we welcome a topical expert to speak on various topics of Champaign County History. These talks are recorded and viewable here.