December 6 Illinois History Minute

It’s December 6th, the day that quarterback Otto Graham was born in Waukegan in 1921.  The son of music teachers, Graham studied music at Northwestern University. His success on the Northwestern football team led to a professional career with the Cleveland Browns, where he earned the nickname “Automatic Otto” for his dependability.

Illinois Governor L.L. Emmerson signed a bill allowing counties to enact a one-cent sales tax on this day in 1932. It’s one of three measures Emmerson signed to help provide unemployment relief during the Great Depression.

And a church in East Peoria built entirely of steel held its first Sunday school class in 1936. The building for Bethany Missionary Church was fabricated at Peoria’s LeTourneau plant, which was also building all-steel houses at the time.