HISTORY TALKS

Each month, we welcome a speaker to present on various topics related to Champaign County history. This free event takes place at the Champaign Public Library (although locations may change). Join us in person to meet the speaker and engage in questions, or watch online after the event has concluded.

Upcoming History Talks:

October 15th - 7pm @ OLLI

Long before highways crisscrossed the flat plains of East Central Illinois, iron rails were the lifeblood of our communities. Join us for an engaging, deeply researched presentation exploring the fascinating history of the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway — universally known as the Big Four Railroad — and its profound footprint right here in Champaign-Urbana.

Whether you are a lifelong local, a railfan, or a local history buff, this session will steam back through time to examine how the Big Four (later the Peoria & Eastern, New York Central, Penn Central, Conrail) connected our twin cities to the broader American industrial landscape, influenced local commerce, and left an indelible mark on our shared geography.

Mike Sypult is a railroad historian from Rogers, Arkansas and currently serves as president of the Arkansas Boston Mountains Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society in Springdale. He has family ties to Glenavon, Farmer City, Bellflower and LeRoy.

2027 History Talks

January 21st - Stefan Djordjevic - Champaign-Urbana History of the World Wars - Champaign Public Library
February 18th - Benjamin Beaupre - The Klan in the CU - TBD
March 18th - Ryan Ross - The First Women at the University of Illinois - TBD
April 17th - Roger Digges - Special Outdoor tour of Meadowbrook Park @ 4pm

2026 History Talks

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 @ OLLI
November 19th - Ada Cheng (Illinois Road Scholar) - A Place to Call Home: Understanding Asian Americans in Illinois Through Narratives @ Champaign Public Library
December 17th - Stefan Djordjevic Champaign-Urbana History of the World Wars - Champaign Public Library

2025 History Talks

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

2024 History Talks

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

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

2022 History Talks

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

2021 History Talks

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

2019 History Talks

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

2018 History Talks

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

2017 History Talks

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