On April 25, 1980, longtime Rockford congressman and powerful House leader John B. Anderson launched his independent campaign for the presidency. Today, April 26, marks the anniversary of his first full […]
200 Years of Illinois: Disaster in Naperville
One of the state’s lesser-known catastrophes, the Naperville Train Crash on April 25, 1946 marked a turning point in the town’s history. In those days half-rural, with some of its […]
Meet the UI Press: Fundraising tips
Enjoy another in our series of posts on how university presses and other small publishing concerns can enjoy greater financial security by creating new revenue streams. The introductory post is here. A second […]
Backlist Bop: The French Connection
Today marks the birthday of Daniel Chester French, in his day one of America’s most popular sculptors. The famed often seem to have known the famed, and French was no […]
Dick Simpson on Against the Current
Dick Simpson, co-author of Corrupt Illinois: Patronage, Cronyism, and Criminality, recently sat down with Dan Proft on the latest edition of Against the Current to talk about the history of […]
200 Years of Illinois: Sorry, Charlie
On April 19, 1928, Illinois held its last public hanging as bootlegger Charlie Birger went up the rope in Benton on a spring morning. (We’ve published a book that tells his story.) […]
Backlist Bop: Take a Ride on the Reading
As main man LeVar Burton can attest, you can go twice as high if you take a look, it’s in a book. Reading, though an essential skill to anyone outside politics, […]
It’s spring! Embrace the psychology of mycology
Feel the breeze as you wander among the cottonwoods. To your left, the burble of the great river. To your right, forests busy with rabbit and beaver, where bald eagles […]
Publishing Perspectives at Illinois: A Panel
Join us on April 20 in room 106 Library for an insightful discussion on various opportunities and avenues for publishing at University of Illinois. A panel of experts from the […]
Backlist Bop: Lifters and jaffas and twin killings and homers
I once tried to explain baseball to a British friend while we watched a Cubs game. By the sixth inning, after going aground on the dropped third strike and tagging […]
Happy Birthday, Muddy Waters
Longing for that down home music? Looking for a shot of brilliance? Tryin’ to forget that you asked for water and your woman/man gave you gasoline? Then you must be celebrating the 100th […]
Backlist Bop: Pioneering women scientists
The hit film Hidden Figures re-acquainted the zeitgeist with the idea that women in general, and African American women in particular, have long participated in scientific endeavor. Science on the Home Front tells women’s […]