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Story Subject Category: Ethnicity/Culture
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Before the industrial revolution, the blacksmith was a vital part of most successful towns in America. Modern machines and mass production may have made the village smithy a thing of the past. But the blacksmithing tradition lives on. Jared Collins visited a gathering of blacksmiths and woodwrights at the John Deere Historic Site in Grand Detour, IL and saw how the trades of shaping metal and wood using hand tools is still very much alive.
Segment duration: 5:35
Story links:
Producer: Jared Collins and Steve Drake
Editor: Jared Collins and Steve Drake
This segment is filed in these categories: Agriculture/Agribusiness • Ethnicity/Culture • Historical Landmarks • Grand Detour
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Yu “Ian” Wang is an avid collector of local artists. He was born in China’s southernmost province of Yunnan and immigrated to the United States in the mid-1990s. Although he lives in Champaign and works in Rantoul, Wang has always kept his ties with his Chinese homeland. Collecting artwork from his hometowns takes him not only across the Midwest, but across the globe. His collection is a combination of traditional Chinese water-ink painting and modern Western abstract art.
Segment duration: 9:11
Producer: Steve Drake
Editor: Jared Collins and Steve Drake
This segment is filed in these categories: Antiques/Collectibles • Arts/Culture • Ethnicity/Culture • Hobbies • Libraries/Museums/Cultural Centers • Champaign • Rantoul • Urbana
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2009 is the 200th anniversary of the birth of our 16th president, Abraham Lincoln. As part of the Lincoln Bicentennial, and in connection with our documentary Lincoln: Prelude to the Presidency, we’ve created a series of segments looking at Lincoln’s life here in central Illinois and how his years spent as a traveling lawyer on the Illinois Eighth Judicial Circuit helped make him one of our nation’s greatest presidents. Tonight we’ll examine how Lincoln’s thoughts on slavery evolved over the years and how race played an increasingly important part in his political life.
Segment duration: 05:35
Story links:
Producer: Steve Drake & Alison Davis Wood
Editor: Steve Drake
This segment is filed in these categories: Ethnicity/Culture • History • Illinois Culture/History
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Prairie Fire tells the story of New Philadelphia, Ill., the first town founded by a free African American in U.S. history. We visit with University of Illinois archaeologists, who are unearthing the remains of this once racially integrated town 85 miles northwest of St. Louis, and learn about its founder, “Free” Frank McWorter.
Although the site was designated a National Historic Landmark in January, it’s still largely unknown to the public. Prairie Fire series producer Steve Drake said he understood why after visiting the remote dig site. “I parked on a non-descript dirt road. I never would have guessed that the remains of such an important part of American history were being excavated nearby.” A portable lab, several holes in the ground and a bus lined with shelves filled with artifacts like dolls, bones and crockery were the only clues that history was being unearthed.
“It always surprises me how many amazing things you can find here in central Illinois if you know where to look,” Steve said. “That’s one of the things that I love about Prairie Fire, that we can find out about some of these little-known, out-of-the-way places and help bring them to our viewers.”
Steve interviews two descendants of McWorter, siblings Gerald and Sandra McWorter, who talk about New Philadelphia’s role in the Underground Railroad and their pride in their great-great-grandfather. He also talks to U of I archaeologist Christopher Fennell, who is principal investigator at the dig near Barry, Ill.
Segment duration: 12:06
Story links:
- New Philadelphia Association Web site
- New Philadelphia Web site (by Dr. Christopher Fennell)
- Free Frank New Philadelphia Historic Preservation Foundation Web site
- New Philadelphia Web site (Center for Heritage Resouce Studies)
- National Science Foundation Research Experiences for Undergraduates (NSF-REU)
Producer: Steve Drake
Editor: Steve Drake and Jared Collins
This segment is filed in these categories: Ethnicity/Culture • History • Illinois Culture/History • University of Illinois
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Yuki Okinaga Llewellyn of Champaign, Ill., spent three years during World War II interned at the Manzanar Assembly Center in California. Llewellyn and her 23-year-old single mother were evacuated from Little Tokyo in Los Angeles, to Manzanar in Lone Pine, Calif. The now famous 1942 National Archives photo, taken by Clem Albers and showing Yuki sitting on a suitcase in the train station, became representative of that period. A retired assistant dean of students at the University of Illinois, Llewellyn returned to Manzanar last fall for the first time since she and her mother left it in October 1945 with $25 and a pair of government-issued bus tickets. Producer Denise La Grassa talks to Llewellyn about living in Block 2 inside the internment camp where she shared a 20 x 20 room with her mother and another family.
Segment duration: 07:55
Producer: Denise La Grassa
Editor: Eleanore Stasheff
This segment is filed in these categories: Ethnicity/Culture • History • World War II • Champaign
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I knew of the Tuskegee Airmen, and that they integrated the military. But prior to covering the grand opening of an exhibit in Rantoul last year, I had no idea about their roots in this area. Before they trained in Alabama, more than 200 members of the 99th Pursuit Squadron got their start at Chanute Air Force Base. The metal mechanics, armors, and other ground support crew workers formed the foundation of the Tuskegee Airmen. Some of the first to train in Rantoul, as well as staff members at that site – now the Octave Chanute Aerospace Museum – played a large role in making this story possible, by providing their descriptions and photos. Props as well to Chauncey E. Spencer II, whose father played a role in tearing down the barriers that kept African-Americans from serving as pilots (Chauncey Jr. provided some photos, as well as an archived interview with his late father.)
I hope Chanute gets a lot more attention for its role in making all this happen. The story of the 99th is as important as any other highlighting the pilots’ achievements during World War II.
Segment duration: 07:26
Producer: Jeff Bossert
This segment is filed in these categories: Ethnicity/Culture • History • Illinois Culture/History • Military • Rantoul
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The Cahokia Mounds story grabbed my interest immediately because I had never heard that there was once a prosperous Native American city in the Americas. Growing up, the TV shows and movies I had seen always portrayed Native Americans as loose collections of people who were constantly on the move. I had never considered that the ancient residents of America had built long-standing, sedentary communities with complex social structures, sprawling community squares, and ceremonial earthen mounds.
Once we arrived in Cahokia for the video shoot, I was shocked to see that the highway ran right through the middle of this historic site. I was also saddened to learn that many of the mounds in the area have been leveled because of farming, construction, or landscaping efforts over the decades. I’m glad that the site is now recognized for its cultural importance and hope that continued research at the site helps increase the general public’s understanding and appreciation for this unique bit of America’s past. The Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site has a great Web site (http://www.cahokiamounds.com) detailing the history of this ancient city in the middle of Illinois.
Segment duration: 02:56
Story links:
Producer: Alison Davis Wood
This segment is filed in these categories: Ethnicity/Culture • Historical Landmarks • History • Landscape • Illinois Culture/History • Libraries/Museums/Cultural Centers • Native Americana • Parks/Outdoor Recreation
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I became interested in doing a story on Midwest SOARRING Foundation in June of 2005, well before I started working for WILL. I attended a Pow-Wow of theirs in Le Roy, and was very moved by the event. At that time, I met Joseph Standing Bear Schranz (President and Founder), who told me about the work of SOARRING. I was really impressed by not only the organization’s very open and welcoming attitude, but also their innovative ways of working for changes. I decided than I wanted to tell their story some day; I just had to find the means.
I started at WILL in January of 2006, and soon realized that Prairie Fire would be the perfect way to tell this kind of story.
Segment duration: 06:34
Story links:
Producer: Virginia Steffen
This segment is filed in these categories: Arts/Culture • Ethnicity/Culture • Illinois Culture/History • Native Americana
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For a group of University of Illinois graduate journalism students, the beat was a foreign country with an unfamiliar language. Prairie Fire follows the 10 students through three weeks in Peru, where they talked with government leaders, poor villagers, alleged terrorists and ordinary Peruvians.
(Above: Student reporter Adam Jadhav interviews Peruvian sociologist Pilar Arroyo)
WILL-AM news director Tom Rogers talked to two of the student reporters and the professor who oversaw their South American trip.
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Students produced a radio documentary about their experiences. Hear Assignment: Peru.
Segment duration: 11:47
Producer: Abby Rhodes
This segment is filed in these categories: Ethnicity/Culture • History • Travel • University of Illinois
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Segment duration: 07:38
Producer: Alison Davis
This segment is filed in these categories: Ethnicity/Culture • Food/Restaurants • Hobbies • Illinois Culture/History • Music • Champaign • Urbana
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