The Sesquicentennial volume also retells this story on pages 154 and 175, though it repeats a mistake regarding Oliver’s Christian name, and the maiden name of his wife Cora, that dates back to Ben C. Oliver of Pekin, an African-American hero of the Spanish-American War. Nance Legins-Costley s historical marker at Legins-Costley Park in downtown Pekin.Īfter the story of Nance Legins-Costley, past Pekin historical works have often retold the story of the marriage of Lloyd J. Pekin’s earliest historical records show that Nance and her family were loved and honored by their community. Nance Legins-Costley is one of Pekin’s most notable and historically significant pioneer settlers, and she was also Pekin’s first known black resident. Colored Infantry, is now rightly honored with historical markers and a downtown Pekin park named and dedicated in her honor. One of the strengths of the Sesquicentennial’s treatment of Pekin’s African-American history is its account of Nance Legins-Costley (1813-1892), whose story has been spotlighted many times in recent years and who, along with her son Pvt. In this article, I do not hesitate to discuss some of these difficult or unpleasant matters, for I am of the opinion that Pekin’s story should be honestly told, including the brighter and delightful aspects as well as the darker and unpleasant episodes – if for no other reason than to illustrate just how very far Pekin has come from its darker days and how many positive changes have taken place since then. Dirksen of Pekin visits the Lincoln Memorial. Dirksen’s crucial role in getting the Civil Rights Act of 1964 passed. However, the Sesquicentennial author did make sure to tell (on page 180) of Sen. Martin Luther King Jr.’s call to clergy to come to Alabama in March 1965 in the struggle for civil rights for America’s blacks, as was reported in the Pekin Daily Times back then. Larry Conrad of First Methodist Church, who with their Marquette Heights colleague Rev. Lewis Andrew of First United Presbyterian Church and Rev. Yet I also find it a regrettable omission that the Sesquicentennial’s author did not tell the story of Pekin’s Christian ministers, Rev. While the Sesquicentennial’s account is far from uninformative, the very nature of a celebratory commemorative historical volume dictates that its treatment of its topics will be more in the nature of a review or survey – and one that will tend to downplay or overlook aspects of history that are unpleasant, lamentable, scandalous, or matters of controversy or contention. In fact, up till now the most extensive account of Pekin’s African-American history in the standard published works on Pekin’s history is that found in the 1974 Pekin Sesquicentennial volume. Compared to most other areas of our city’s history, this is an aspect of Pekin’s history that has been little researched and whose stories have been little told (which is why I have made it a point over the past five years or so to devote time to researching and writing about Pekin’s Black History here at “From the History Room”). Tinney, William Edward Gaines, William Gaines ( 3 ), William Henry Costley ( 18 ), WW2 Memories of Love and War ( 3 ) Light and shadow: A review of Pekin’s African-American history and historiographyĪs Pekin’s Bicentennial Year continues and we now find ourselves in Black History Month, it is fitting that we turn our attention now to Pekin’s African-American history. ( 2 ), Robert Monge ( 5 ), Sam Day, San Juan Hill, Selma ( 2 ), Spanish-American War ( 3 ), Spanish-American War veterans ( 2 ), sundown sign, Sundown towns ( 3 ), Thomas Shipman ( 7 ), Uncle Bill Tinney ( 7 ), Walter Lee ( 2 ), William A. Friederich ( 2 ), Pekin African-American History, Pekin Bicentennial ( 17 ), Pekin Daily Times ( 19 ), Pekin history ( 183 ), Pekin Roller Mills Plant, Pekin Sesquicentennial ( 3 ), Pekin's Black History ( 2 ), Pekin's racist reputation ( 6 ), Peter Logan ( 2 ), Racism ( 8 ), Racism in Pekin's past ( 6 ), Randy Hilst, Rastus Gaines, Rev. Oliver ( 3 ), Moffatt Cemetery, Moses Shipman ( 11 ), Nance Legins-Costley ( 38 ), nativism, O. McElroy ( 3 ), Hummer Saddlery, Invisible Empire, James Arnold Washington Lincoln Jackson Gibson, James Lane, John Winslow ( 2 ), KKK ( 7 ), Klavern, Ku Klux Klan ( 8 ), Legins-Costley Park ( 3 ), Lloyd J. Bailey ( 4 ), Debra Clendenen ( 2 ), Dirksen Center ( 5 ), Erastus Gaines, George E. Cromwell ( 15 ), Benjamin Costley ( 16 ), bridge sign, Carl Adams ( 13 ), Charles Cramby, Charles Cranby, Charles Gramby, Civil Rights Act of 1964 ( 4 ), Cora Foy ( 3 ), Corn Products Explosion ( 2 ), Cromwell vs. Tags: Abraham Lincoln ( 47 ), Al Oliver, Anderson Blue, Bailey v.
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