Featured Podcasts
Kkk in EStL
The Ku Klux Klan held sway over large areas in the Midwest in the 1920s. As their influence in Southern Illinois grew, they looked to expand. Setting their sights on East St. Louis, the Klan hoped to rally white residents to their bigotry and racial hatred, while also fighting bootlegging and the criminal organizations that controlled it. Standing in the way of the Klan terrorists was the formidable Malbern Monroe Stephens, Mayor of East St. Louis. This is the story of how Stephens and his fellow East St. Louisans confronted the Klan in 1924.
Death of a friend
Belleville’s Gustave Koerner befriended Abraham Lincoln in the 1840s and their friendship helped to define the politics of the mid 19th century in Illinois and beyond. When Koerner learned of Lincoln’s assassination in April of 1865, he joined a nation in mourning. Look back with Koerner on his life and friendship with Abraham Lincoln.
Wandering Courthouse
Starting its life as a private residence in 1740s Cahokia, the building that served as St. Clair County’s first courthouse holds deep roots in the French culture of the Illinois Country. Despite these roots, the building sat nearly 300 miles away in a park in Chicago for years. Follow the unlikely travels of this historic building.
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