Illinois State Society of Washington, DC

Illinois Hall of Fame: Orion Samuelson

By Mark Rhoads

If you are in any way connected with the farming business in the USA, the voice of Orion Samuelson has been an important part of your day for as long as you have been farming. For more than forty-five years so far, Orion has been the radio voice of agriculture in America.

He has been broadcasting since the 1950s on Wisconsin radio stations and started at WGN radio as director of farm news in 1960. In 2006 he is heard on a syndicate of 260 American radio stations that carry his National Farm Report program. He also has a TV audience of more than thirty million viewers on 190 cable, satellite, and broadcast TV stations for different shows on his own and with his colleague Max Armstrong.

In his lecture called "From Reaper to Satellite," Orion, a resident of Northbrook, Illinois, shares his entusiasm for farmers and their vital work with millions each week. He exudes good will for the two percent of Americans who raise food from the ground and take care of the livestock that feeds three hundred million Americans and millions more overseas. He both reports on the market news of agribusiness and also is an advocate for farmers who understands their professional challenges.

His awards are almost countless but among some of the most significant are the 4-H Hall of Fame, the 1998 Distringuished Service Award of the American Farm Bureau Federation, the 2001 Lincoln Medal--the highest award from the State of Illinois, and his 2003 induction into the Radio Hall of Fame.

By Mark Rhoads

If you are in any way connected with the farming business in the USA, the voice of Orion Samuelson has been an important part of your day for as long as you have been farming. For more than forty-five years so far, Orion has been the radio voice of agriculture in America.

He has been broadcasting since the 1950s on Wisconsin radio stations and started at WGN radio as director of farm news in 1960. In 2006 he is heard on a syndicate of 260 American radio stations that carry his National Farm Report program. He also has a TV audience of more than thirty million viewers on 190 cable, satellite, and broadcast TV stations for different shows on his own and with his colleague Max Armstrong.

In his lecture called "From Reaper to Satellite," Orion, a resident of Northbrook, Illinois, shares his entusiasm for farmers and their vital work with millions each week. He exudes good will for the two percent of Americans who raise food from the ground and take care of the livestock that feeds three hundred million Americans and millions more overseas. He both reports on the market news of agribusiness and also is an advocate for farmers who understands their professional challenges.

His awards are almost countless but among some of the most significant are the 4-H Hall of Fame, the 1998 Distringuished Service Award of the American Farm Bureau Federation, the 2001 Lincoln Medal--the highest award from the State of Illinois, and his 2003 induction into the Radio Hall of Fame.

Illinois Hall of Fame: Ruth Hanna McCormick

By Mark Rhoads

Ruth Hanna McCormick was a suffragist and advocate for the rights of women and children. She actively campaigned for the vote for women from 1913 until the amendment was ratifed by the states in 1920. In 1913, Illinois women won the right to vote in municipal elections and for presidential electors and on bond issues. But oddly enough they did not win the right to vote for Congress, Governor, other statewide offices, or members of the General Assembly, until the 19th Amendment was ratified by three-quarters of the states in 1920. Illinois was one of the first three states to ratify the national vote for women amendment on June 10, 1919 and tied with the legisaltures of Michigan and Wisconsin on that day.

Ruth was not the the first woman to serve in Congress from Illinois. Winifred Mason-Huck was elected in a special 1923 election to succeed her father Rep. William Mason but Winifred only served a few months and did not win renomination in 1924. Ruth not only served a full term in the House but she was also the first woman of either party to win a statewide election in Illinois when she became an at-large Member of Congress as a Republican in 1928. She campaigned in 99 of the 102 Illinois counties.  There have been women representatives in Congress from Illinois in every decade since the 1920s.

The women pioneers from Illinois in the legislature included Lottie Holman O'Neill of Downers Grove who was first elected to the House in 1922. Florence Fifer Bohrer of Bloomington was the daughter of Gov. Joe Fifer and was the first woman elected to the state senate in 1924. But Lottie served longer than any other woman in a state legislature, 1923 to 1951 in the House with two years off and 1951 to 1963 in the Senate for a total of 38 years in legislative service. Lottie, Florence, Winifred, and Ruth were all Republicans.

Ruth Hanna McCormick came from two politically-powerful families and was owner and publisher of the Rockford Register-Republic and the Rockford Morning Star starting in 1930 during a time when she lived in Byron, Illinois in Ogle County.

By Mark Rhoads

Ruth Hanna McCormick was a suffragist and advocate for the rights of women and children. She actively campaigned for the vote for women from 1913 until the amendment was ratifed by the states in 1920. In 1913, Illinois women won the right to vote in municipal elections and for presidential electors and on bond issues. But oddly enough they did not win the right to vote for Congress, Governor, other statewide offices, or members of the General Assembly, until the 19th Amendment was ratified by three-quarters of the states in 1920. Illinois was one of the first three states to ratify the national vote for women amendment on June 10, 1919 and tied with the legisaltures of Michigan and Wisconsin on that day.

Ruth was not the the first woman to serve in Congress from Illinois. Winifred Mason-Huck was elected in a special 1923 election to succeed her father Rep. William Mason but Winifred only served a few months and did not win renomination in 1924. Ruth not only served a full term in the House but she was also the first woman of either party to win a statewide election in Illinois when she became an at-large Member of Congress as a Republican in 1928. She campaigned in 99 of the 102 Illinois counties.  There have been women representatives in Congress from Illinois in every decade since the 1920s.

The women pioneers from Illinois in the legislature included Lottie Holman O'Neill of Downers Grove who was first elected to the House in 1922. Florence Fifer Bohrer of Bloomington was the daughter of Gov. Joe Fifer and was the first woman elected to the state senate in 1924. But Lottie served longer than any other woman in a state legislature, 1923 to 1951 in the House with two years off and 1951 to 1963 in the Senate for a total of 38 years in legislative service. Lottie, Florence, Winifred, and Ruth were all Republicans.

Ruth Hanna McCormick came from two politically-powerful families and was owner and publisher of the Rockford Register-Republic and the Rockford Morning Star starting in 1930 during a time when she lived in Byron, Illinois in Ogle County.

Illinois Hall of Fame: James C. Petrillo

By Mark Rhoads

Bing Crosby as Father O'Malley in "The Bells of St. Mary's" tells the mother of a student how he located the girl's father who was a pianist. "He's a musician, so he must be in the union. I went right to the top, Petrillo!"

In the middle of the 20th Century, the name "Petrillo" was well known in America. He was a labor leader who was often in the news because of so many battles he fought on behalf of his members in a rapidly changing world for musicians. Jimmy Petrillo was President of Local 10 of the Chicago Federation of Musicians for forty years from 1922 to 1962.  He also served as president of the American Federation of Musicians for 18 years from 1940 to 1958. The Petrillo Band Shell in Grant Park was named in his honor in 1976.

James Caesar Petrillo was born near the corner of DeKoven and Taylor Street in Chicago on March 16, 1892. He loved to play the trumpet but he concluded in his early twenties that he did not have enough talent to make his living as a trumpet player. So starting in 1919, James devoted his life to organizing musicians into effective union locals. Petrillo once said many years later, 'If I was a good trumpet player I wouldn’t be here. I got desperate. I hadda look for a job. I went into the union business."

Illinois Hall of Fame: Cyrus Hall McCormick

By Mark Rhoads

Cyrus Hall McCormick was the inventor of the first working mechanical reaper for harvesting grain. He is considered by many historians to be "the father of modern agriculture." Although he was a Virginian by birth, McCormick became a global agribusiness pioneer who founded and grew an industrial empire in Chicago where he lived and worked for 37 years.

McCormick was born on Feb. 15, 1809 in Rockbride County, Virginia, about 150 miles south-west of Washington, DC. His parents were Robert McCormick and Mary Ann Hall McCormick. His father was also a tinkerer and inventor.

When he was 15 in 1824, Cyrus made a lightweight cradle for harvesting grain. In 1831, Cyrus Hall McCormick was only 22 years old when he followed up on his father's work and constructed a working mechanical grain reaper in the blacksmith shop on the family farm. He received a patent in 1834. Prior to this invention, every farmer in the world had to use either a sickle or a scythe to harvest grain by hand.  Workers could harvest between one-half and a maximum of three acres per day depending on different factors. The mechanical reaper enabled one man to harvest 40 acres in a day and do the work that twenty could do before. It was the start of a world-wide revolution in productivity for farmers. In the 1850s, about ninety percent of Americans lived and worked on farms. Today, only two percent of Americans do work directly involved with farming.

Once again, because of its key geographic location and the railroad hub, McCormick moved his factory from Virginia to Chicago in 1847 when he was 38. The company he founded in 1847 was known as McCormick Harvesting Machine Company. In 1851, the invention of the reaper won the Gold Medal at London's Crystal Palace Exposition, the most prestigious award of that era.

Lincoln's Secretary of State William H. Seward once said that because of the reaper, "the line of civilization moves west by thirty miles each year."

By 1858, the company was the largest manufacturer of farm equipment in the country. That company merged with another to become International Harvester in 1902.  Late in the 20th Century the parent holding company went by the name Navistar for a few years and was based in Warrenville, Illinois.  In 2004, the operating company name changed again to International Truck and Engine and is still based in Illinois. 

By Mark Rhoads

Cyrus Hall McCormick was the inventor of the first working mechanical reaper for harvesting grain. He is considered by many historians to be "the father of modern agriculture." Although he was a Virginian by birth, McCormick became a global agribusiness pioneer who founded and grew an industrial empire in Chicago where he lived and worked for 37 years.

McCormick was born on Feb. 15, 1809 in Rockbride County, Virginia, about 150 miles south-west of Washington, DC. His parents were Robert McCormick and Mary Ann Hall McCormick. His father was also a tinkerer and inventor.

When he was 15 in 1824, Cyrus made a lightweight cradle for harvesting grain. In 1831, Cyrus Hall McCormick was only 22 years old when he followed up on his father's work and constructed a working mechanical grain reaper in the blacksmith shop on the family farm. He received a patent in 1834. Prior to this invention, every farmer in the world had to use either a sickle or a scythe to harvest grain by hand.  Workers could harvest between one-half and a maximum of three acres per day depending on different factors. The mechanical reaper enabled one man to harvest 40 acres in a day and do the work that twenty could do before. It was the start of a world-wide revolution in productivity for farmers. In the 1850s, about ninety percent of Americans lived and worked on farms. Today, only two percent of Americans do work directly involved with farming.

Once again, because of its key geographic location and the railroad hub, McCormick moved his factory from Virginia to Chicago in 1847 when he was 38. The company he founded in 1847 was known as McCormick Harvesting Machine Company. In 1851, the invention of the reaper won the Gold Medal at London's Crystal Palace Exposition, the most prestigious award of that era.

Lincoln's Secretary of State William H. Seward once said that because of the reaper, "the line of civilization moves west by thirty miles each year."

By 1858, the company was the largest manufacturer of farm equipment in the country. That company merged with another to become International Harvester in 1902.  Late in the 20th Century the parent holding company went by the name Navistar for a few years and was based in Warrenville, Illinois.  In 2004, the operating company name changed again to International Truck and Engine and is still based in Illinois. 

Illinois Hall of Fame: Tom Berenger

By Mark Rhoads

Illinois-native actor Tom Berenger has played diverse roles from an aging catcher for the Cleveland Indians to Col. Theodore Roosevelt leading the Rough Riders up San Juan Hill.  He played a crazoid sergeant in Platoon, a confederate general in Gettysburg, and one of the college classmate mourners in The Big Chill. He has been a western lawman, a high school teacher, a police detective, and a plumber on Cheers.  The fact that he is always believable in each different role is a tribute to his acting abilities.

Tom Berenger's birth name was Thomas Michael Moore when he was born into an Irish-Catholic family in Chicago on May 31, 1949. Tom played football at Rich East Township High School in Park Forest but he also acted in school plays and was a member of the Spanish National Honor Society. Tom graduated from Rich East in 1967 and attended the University of Missouri as a journalism major. His goal was to be a sport's writer. But during college, Tom appeared in a stage production of "Who Afraid of Virginia Wolf?" and caught the acting bug in a more serious way.

Illinois Hall of Fame: Vachel Lindsay

By Mark Rhoads

It is portentous, and a thing of state
That here at midnight, in our little town
A mourning figure walks, and will not rest,
Near the old court-house pacing up and down,

From Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight by Vachel Lindsay.

Vachel Linday was an American poet, writer, mystic, public speaker, and artist whose work was particularly admired in some religious revival circles early in the Twntieth Century.

Nicholas Vachel Lindsay was born in Springfield, Illinois on Nov. 10, 1879. His father was Dr. Vachel Thomas Lindsay, a physician, and his mother was Caterhine Frazee.  His parents were Cambellites, a church founded in 1830 by the Scotch-Irish clergyman Alexander Campbell. The Cambellites emphasized education, individual spiritual life, and the missionary role of American democracy. The Cambellites also hopes for one nondemoniational Christian Church. These beliefs had a great influence on Vachel's career as a poet, pamphleteer, and lecturer.

Vachel graduated from Springfield High School in 1897 and began to study medicine at a Cambellite school, Hiram College in Ohio. He was a student at Hiram until 1899 but did not get a degree and left college to return to Springfield. 

By Mark Rhoads

It is portentous, and a thing of state
That here at midnight, in our little town
A mourning figure walks, and will not rest,
Near the old court-house pacing up and down,

From Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight by Vachel Lindsay.

Vachel Linday was an American poet, writer, mystic, public speaker, and artist whose work was particularly admired in some religious revival circles early in the Twntieth Century.

Nicholas Vachel Lindsay was born in Springfield, Illinois on Nov. 10, 1879. His father was Dr. Vachel Thomas Lindsay, a physician, and his mother was Caterhine Frazee.  His parents were Cambellites, a church founded in 1830 by the Scotch-Irish clergyman Alexander Campbell. The Cambellites emphasized education, individual spiritual life, and the missionary role of American democracy. The Cambellites also hopes for one nondemoniational Christian Church. These beliefs had a great influence on Vachel's career as a poet, pamphleteer, and lecturer.

Vachel graduated from Springfield High School in 1897 and began to study medicine at a Cambellite school, Hiram College in Ohio. He was a student at Hiram until 1899 but did not get a degree and left college to return to Springfield. 

By Richard Frank

THIS WEEK'S ILLINOIS STATE SOCIETY EVENTS

Friday, October 27 - 2:30 p.m.

Chicago: Cauldron of Postal Change: 1831 - present

Presentation by Megaera Ausman, Historian, United States Postal Service at 2:30 p.m. in the Benjamin Franklin Room on the top floor of the USPS headquarters, 475 L'Enfant Plaza, SW, Washington, DC. Reservations and a photo ID are required. Use the building's entrance nearest the Potomac River.

Call the ISS Hotline at 703 461-3610 for reservations.

Saturday, October 28 - Noon

Attention all Northern Illinois grads and Illinoisans who attended the University of Iowa! The Huskies and Hawkeyes will play this Saturday, October 28th when Northern Illinois and Iowa kick-off is at Noon. Iowa fans gather at the Crystal City Sports Pub, which is one of Sports Illustrated's top-25 sports bars in the nation. Northern Illinois fans can join the Iowa fans there unless we hear that another site is available. The Pub is located at 529 S. 23rd St, Arlington, VA 22202. No reservations required.

Illinois Hall of Fame: Nat King Cole

By Mark Rhoads

"Twenty-third and Wentworth, was it's beating Heart, ...But there was everything, back when Jazz was King, on the South Side of Chicago."

-- Ray Price song in 1974

Nat King Cole was born on St. Patrick's Day, March 17, 1919 in Montgomery, Alabama where his father was a butcher and a deacon in the Baptist Church. His actual birth name was Nathaniel Adams Coles. When Nat was two years old in 1921, the family moved to the Bronzeville neighborhood on Chicago's South Side where his father became a minister.  In those days, Bronzeville ran between State Street on the west and Grand Boulevard on the east (now called Martin Luther King Drive) and between 31st Street on the north and Pershing Road on the south. Naturally enough, gospel music from his father's Baptist Church was an early influence on Nat. When Nat was just 12, his first performance in public was Yes, we have no bananas!

Ragtime and jazz music was flourishing in the small clubs of Bronzeville in the 1920s and 1930s. Beyond the immediate Bronzeville neighborhood, most of the South Side was alive with the hottest Jazz anywhere in the country. From 1922 to 1930, Louis Armstrong was playing at Lincoln Gardens on 47th Street and he met and married his second wife Lil Hardin in Chicago.  Other great stars were playing in Chicago clubs such as Earl "Fatha" Hines and Jimmy Noone.

Nat and his older brother Eddie hung out at the clubs as kids whenever they could getting to know the music and the musicians. Nat graduated from Wendell Phillips High School in 1935. He also studied in the music program of Walter Dyet at Du Sable High School. Just out of high school in 1936, Nat had formed his own band at age 17 and they made their first recording featuring Eddie Cole on bass and Nat on piano. 

By Mark Rhoads

"Twenty-third and Wentworth, was it's beating Heart, ...But there was everything, back when Jazz was King, on the South Side of Chicago."

-- Ray Price song in 1974

Nat King Cole was born on St. Patrick's Day, March 17, 1919 in Montgomery, Alabama where his father was a butcher and a deacon in the Baptist Church. His actual birth name was Nathaniel Adams Coles. When Nat was two years old in 1921, the family moved to the Bronzeville neighborhood on Chicago's South Side where his father became a minister.  In those days, Bronzeville ran between State Street on the west and Grand Boulevard on the east (now called Martin Luther King Drive) and between 31st Street on the north and Pershing Road on the south. Naturally enough, gospel music from his father's Baptist Church was an early influence on Nat. When Nat was just 12, his first performance in public was Yes, we have no bananas!

Ragtime and jazz music was flourishing in the small clubs of Bronzeville in the 1920s and 1930s. Beyond the immediate Bronzeville neighborhood, most of the South Side was alive with the hottest Jazz anywhere in the country. From 1922 to 1930, Louis Armstrong was playing at Lincoln Gardens on 47th Street and he met and married his second wife Lil Hardin in Chicago.  Other great stars were playing in Chicago clubs such as Earl "Fatha" Hines and Jimmy Noone.

Nat and his older brother Eddie hung out at the clubs as kids whenever they could getting to know the music and the musicians. Nat graduated from Wendell Phillips High School in 1935. He also studied in the music program of Walter Dyet at Du Sable High School. Just out of high school in 1936, Nat had formed his own band at age 17 and they made their first recording featuring Eddie Cole on bass and Nat on piano. 

Illinois Hall of Fame: Philip Klutznick

By Mark Rhoads

If you have ever visited Park Forest, or shopped at Old Orchard, Oakbrook Shopping Center, or Water Tower Place, then you are at least acquainted with the life of Philip Morris Klutznick even if you did not know his name. Athough he had roots in Kansas and Nebraska, Phil was an Illinoisan by choice who lived and worked primarily in Cook County for fifty-three years or well more than half of his long life. His innovative real estate development projects changed the face of the county and won him world-wide fame as a businessman and investor.

Phil Klutznick was born on July 9, 1907 in Kansas City, Missouri. He attended high school in Kansas City, one year at Kansas University (1924-1925) and one year at University of Nebraska (1925-1926).  He received his LLB law degree from Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska in the spring of 1929.  He married Ethel Riekes on June 8, 1930 and the couple had one daughter and four sons.

Illinois Hall of Fame: Laurie Metcalf

By Mark Rhoads

Laurie Metcalf is a talented and hard-working actress with many stage and TV credits who has also performed in many feature films. In the early 1990s she won three Emmy Awards for her role as Jackie Harris, the sister of Roseanne Barr, in the Roseanne TV series. The show ran nine years from 1988 to 1997.  She was also nominated for Emmys three other times for Roseanne and other TV shows.

Laurie's film roles have run a diverse spectrum from the voice of "Mom" in the animated film Toy Story to a serious role as a police investigator for District Attorney Jim Garrison in Oliver Stone's movie JFK.  (Photo at right copyright 2002 by Mike Guastella of WireImage.com)

Laurie was born in Carbondale, Illinois on June 16, 1955 and she was raised in Edwardsville. He father was the comptroller for Southern Illinois University. She acted in school plays and graduated from Edwardsville High School in 1973 and from Illinois State University in 1977 with a Bachelor of Arts in Theater.

Even before graduation, Laurie joined with many other young Illinois actors who later became famous including her first husband Jeff Perry as well as Terry Kinney and Gary Sinise in helping to launch the early seasons of the Steppenwolf Theater Company in Chicago.  The early ensemble casts included other founders such as John Malkovich, Joan Allen, and John Mahoney.  Laurie is still considered part of that ensemble cast and has performed in more than 30 Steppenwolf productions.

By Mark Rhoads

Laurie Metcalf is a talented and hard-working actress with many stage and TV credits who has also performed in many feature films. In the early 1990s she won three Emmy Awards for her role as Jackie Harris, the sister of Roseanne Barr, in the Roseanne TV series. The show ran nine years from 1988 to 1997.  She was also nominated for Emmys three other times for Roseanne and other TV shows.

Laurie's film roles have run a diverse spectrum from the voice of "Mom" in the animated film Toy Story to a serious role as a police investigator for District Attorney Jim Garrison in Oliver Stone's movie JFK.  (Photo at right copyright 2002 by Mike Guastella of WireImage.com)

Laurie was born in Carbondale, Illinois on June 16, 1955 and she was raised in Edwardsville. He father was the comptroller for Southern Illinois University. She acted in school plays and graduated from Edwardsville High School in 1973 and from Illinois State University in 1977 with a Bachelor of Arts in Theater.

Even before graduation, Laurie joined with many other young Illinois actors who later became famous including her first husband Jeff Perry as well as Terry Kinney and Gary Sinise in helping to launch the early seasons of the Steppenwolf Theater Company in Chicago.  The early ensemble casts included other founders such as John Malkovich, Joan Allen, and John Mahoney.  Laurie is still considered part of that ensemble cast and has performed in more than 30 Steppenwolf productions.