2026 History Talks​

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• January 15th - Phillip Kalantzis Cope - Mid-Continent Modern: The Champaign School of Mid-Century Architecture

• February 19th - Christopher Sweet - History of Bicycling in Illinois - Zoom

• March 19th - Bill McLane - The Sidney Military Museum @ The Sidney Legion

• April 16th - Connie Martin (Illinois Road Scholar) - Pre Civil War Quilts: Secret Codes to Freedom on the Underground Railroad / Made Possible through the support of the Illinois Humanities' Road Scholars Speakers Bureau

• May 21st - Cancelled due to conflicting events - Join us for our Mid Century Modern Tour on May 23rd!

• June 18th - Rick Williams - The Egyptian Trail: Early Roads in Champaign County @ Champaign Public Library

• July 16th - Mark Sorensen - The KKK in Illinois - @Champaign Public Library

• August 20th - Erika Holst - Illinois in 10 Artifacts with the Illinois State Museum

• September 17th - Connor Ross - The History of Busey Woods, Flora and Fauna

• October 15th - Mike Sypult - The Big Four Railroad @ Urbana Free Library

• November 19th - Ada Cheng (Illinois Road Scholar) - A Place to Call Home: Understanding Asian Americans in Illinois Through Narratives @ Champaign Public Library

• December 17th - TBD

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2025 History Talks​

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• January 16th - The Golden Age of Red by Doug Villhard

• February 20th - The 100 Year History of Memorial Stadium by Benjamin Bross and Kevin Hinders

• March 20th - The History of America Pies: Illinois is Well Represented by Catherine Lambrecht Made possible through the support of the Illinois Humanities' Road Scholars Speakers Bureau

• April 16th - The Story of the Punkin Vine: Illinois Central's Rantoul District in Central Illinois by Mike Sypult

• May 15th - Champaign County's Rural Churches and Congregations by Rick Williams

• June 19th - The History of the College of Education at UIUC by Walter Feinberg and Bill Cope

• July 17th - Political Moses: John J. Bird, A Long-Forgotten Civil Rights Leader in Illinois by Wayne Pitard

• August 21st - Nathan Ricker and the School of Architecture by Marci Uihlein

• September 18th - Love and Conductivity by Erin Nieto

• October 16th - A Forgotten Telescope: The Vermillion River Observatory by Brendan Gallian

• November 20th - TBD

• December 18th - Lincoln the Citizen by Michael Burlingame

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2024 History Talks​

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• February 15th - The 370th Infantry and Their Impact on Champaign County by CCAAHT

• March 21st - The 100+ Year Ride Listening to Champaign County Radio by Mike Haile

• April 18th - The Eastern Illinois League in Champaign County by Bob Sampson

• May 23rd - The Urbana Seminary at 20 by Dr. Ken Cuffey

• June 20th - Myra, IL: The Story of the Silver Family and a Community by Will Best

• July 18th - History of UIUC Homecoming by Ryan Ross, Historian / U of I Alumni Association

• August 15th - The History of the Mt. Vernon UMC: Celebrating their 150th Anniversary by Dan Sherman

• September 19th - The Krebiozen Hoax: How a Mysterious Cancer Drug Shook Organized Medicine by Matthew Enrlich

• October 17th - History of Champaign County Fires by Jeremy Mitchell

• December 19th - UIUC's First Museum by Ian Wang

2023 History Talks​​

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• December 21 - Lincoln on the Verge: Thirteen Days to Washington by Ted Widmer, Historian / Author

• November 16 - Dorothy Schroeder: Champaign County's All-American Baseball Player by Anna Sielaff

• October 19 - Myra, IL and the Tragedies of the Silver Family by Will Best, CCHM Manager

• September 21 - Urbana's Architect, Joseph William Royer, by Brian Adams, Archaeologist

• July 20 - Illinois at the End of the Ice Age: Champaign's Earliest Inhabitants

• June 15 - 100 Years of Illini Hillel

• May 18 - Avenues of Transformation: Illinois' Path from Territory to State

• April 6 - The Illinois Theater: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly by Perry Morris, CCHM Vice President

• March 9 - Farm Aid '85 in Music and Memory

• February 16 - Alexander Bowman and His 1856 Map of West Urbana

• January 19 - The History of the Wilber Mansion by Madison Story, CCHM Intern

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2022 History Talks

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• December 15 - "Dangerous Ideas on Campus" - A Discussion with Author Matthew Ehrlich

• November 17 - "The Heartland" - A Discussion with Author Kristin Hoganson

• October 20 -  Sarah McGuirk, Orphan Train Rider by Tammy Wilson

• September 15 - A History of Chinese Students and Scholars at the UI by Yingying Han & Ian Wang

• August 18 - Virginia Sale: Urbana's Hollywood Starlet by  Perry Morris, CCHM Vice President

• July 21 - Daughter of the American Revolution Lincoln 8th Circuit Markers 

• June 16 - Chic Sale: Urbana's Leading Man by  Perry Morris, CCHM Vice President

• May 19 - Life of Abel Harwood by Azaan Qureshi, CCHM Intern

• April 19 - The Illinois Traction System by Dale Jenkins, President of the IL Terminal RR Association

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2021 History Talks​

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• February 13 - Senior Memorial Chimes of Altgeld Hall by Liam Flood

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2019 History Talks​

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• November 9 - The Harris Mansion Heist by Zane Zielger, Champaign Police Historian​

• August 10 - 100 Years of History of the News-Gazette, by Tom Kachich, News-Gazette Reporter

• June 8 - A Home of Their Own - African American Students Housing at the UofI 1920-1950

• April 20 - 100th Anniversary of the American Legion 

• March 9 - Crowning a Champaign in Champaign: 77 Years of IHSA Basketball Championships

• February 9 - Historic Sites of Champaign County (Part 2) by Rick Williams, CCHM Board Member

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2018 History Talks

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• October 11 - Powering the University of Illinois

• September 13 - Busey vs. Cannon: The Perfect Storm Election of 1892

• August 9 - Stories from Chanute, by Anke Voss, Director of the Champaign Co. Archives

• July 12 - Champaign's Gambling Hotspots in 1937 by Sherrie Bowser, Champaign Co. Archives Librarian

• June 14 - 100 Years of the Samual T. Busey Memorial Library by Thomas Kuipers

• May 10 - Vaudville and the New Orpheum Theatre by Perry Morris, CCHM Vice President

• April 12 - History of the University of Illinois Archives by Bill Maher, UofI Archivist

• March 8 - The Four Color Theorem: Solving a 124-Year-Old Problem

• February 8 - The History of the History Museum by Hal Balbach, former CCHM President

• January 11 - Historic Sites of Champaign County (Part 1) by Rick Williams, CCHM Board Member

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 2017 History Talks 

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• December 14 - WWII Diary of Chick Bruns 70 Years Ago by Author John Bruns

• November 9 - "An Illini Place" - A Discussion with Author Lex Tate

• October 12 - The Pacific Theater with David Anderson, WWII Veteran 

• September 14 - "The Lord is Not on Trial" The Vashti McCollum Case by Author Dan McCollum