April 25 Illinois History Minute

It’s April 25th, and ports on the Lake Michigan shore in Chicago and Waukegan owe much of their traffic to the Saint Lawrence Seaway, which opened on this day in 1959. The seaway uses locks, canals, and channels to create a shipping route along the St. Lawrence River between the Atlantic Ocean and the Great Lakes. 

Golfer Jerry Barber was born on this day in 1916 in downstate Woodson. He won the 1961 PGA Championship and played in his last tournament when he was nearly 78.

And baseball player Joyce Rickets was born on this day in Oquawka in 1933. In the 50s, Rickets was an all-star outfielder in P-K Wrigley’s All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, the same league featured in the movie, A League of their Own. She played for the Grand Rapids Chicks.