Reading past history

I know all history is past, but I just finally read a book that has sat on my shelves for decades -- so long that it became a kind of landmark there. It's Main Line of Mid-America: The Story of the Illinois Central (New York: Creative Age Press, 1950), by Carlton J. Corliss -- the official centennial history of one of the dominant Midwestern and Southern railroads, written near the peak of its corporate power and glory.

The book is sixty years old. Its subject has ceased to exist, although some of its physical lines are still run by other public or private entities. (Even the simplified Wikipedia article is hard to follow, but suffice to say that the railroad's former parent company was recently absorbed by PepsiCo.)

Reading a history book from the past, especially an official one, uncovers people's assumptions like nothing else. What's not in here? Much awareness of the rails' uphill struggle against other modes of transportation (trucks and planes) that received even more government help than they did. Women and black people are barely mentioned; and those pictured are uniformly old white guys. (Remember that?)

As a genealogical source, this is mainly historical context, although if you have research targets who worked on the IC or who lived in its corridor, you may find something specifically helpful. (There is an index and bibliography.) What struck me most forcibly was the powerful economic incentive the railroad had as an institution to paper over the Civil War as quickly as possible, and to return to ignoring the plight of the victims of slavery. If you want to know more about the enslaved people who helped build portions of the road, look elsewhere.

Was Your Ancestor Working on the Illinois Central Railroad?

If you have Chicago or Illinois connections, keep an eye on Sharon Williams' Chicago history portal/blog, "Chicago History: The Journal of an Amateur Historian." I certainly will.

I haven't begun to explore this whole site -- her posts are delightfully eclectic -- but here's one juicy microhistorical/genealogical item 'way down on her blogroll equivalent (and something I should have known about long ago), the"Digitized Book of the Week" from the library of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Out of many curious postings here (further exploration and monitoring is a must), I found a year-old post on their digitized volumes of the Illinois Central Magazine (1914-1924) for employees.

In this digital treasure chest, the genealogical jewels are concentrated at the end of each issue under "Divisional News." The July 1914 news for the Illinois Division, Chicago District, includes a marriage announcement which fully names the bride but describes the groom only as "Brakeman McLaughlin." We also learn where dispatcher H. H. Weatherford just spent his vacation (Milwaukee), and where "trainmen's caller" John Wilson was about to spend his (Havana [Illinois]). Geo. Starkey secured a leave of absence from his unnamed job to visit a sick relative in Los Angeles. Good stuff. BTW, the IC magazine also profiled towns along its route.

New stuff at the Indiana Historical Society

The March/April IHS print newsletter INPerspective lists new collections and books on hand as of October-November, including

This Place We Call Home: A History of Clark County, Indiana (2007). "This book stands out among similar county histories."

"Slavery Cases in the Indiana Supreme Court" (2007). This pamphlet is also on sale at the state Supreme Court bookstore's website, which says that it "examines several cases presented to the Court between 1816 and 1863 and how, through them, the Court worked to uphold the constitution’s prohibition on slavery in the face of considerable public opposition."

Illinois Central Railroad Collection, from roughly 1870s-1960s with items from Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio operations.

KKK Indiana Membership Ledger for various towns, surnames S-Z.

If you aim to drop in sometime, bear in mind that (like some other repositories) they keep Tuesday-Saturday hours. Don't try the door on Monday!