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Trooper Kurut
Mr. Kurut gave us an insight to the life of a Illinois State Trooper. He told us how difficult it is to become a Trooper as the process can take over two years. He also told us about some of his personal experiences ranging from confiscating 55 lbs. of illegal drudgs to arresting someone who took six hours to process because he kept fighting the officers. Mr. Kurut shared stories of his time on the force. also Once a Trooper confiscated 3.2 million dollars in cash. -
Senator Bill Cunningham
Bill Cunningham is a Democrat who is in the Illinois Senate who represents the 18th district. He used to be a part of the Illinois House of Representatives until he left for the Senate and Mary Flowers assumed his old position. Before his entire political career, he was the Chief of Staff for the Cook County Sheriff. He told us how it's difficult to compromise since the different regions of Illinois have many different views on government. He is also pro- gun control. -
Representative Mary Flowers
Mary Flowers is a Democrat in the Illinois House of Representatives who represents the 31st District. She has been in office since 1985 and used to volunteer for Harold Washington. She was prompted by him to run for office. Her main goals as a representative are to bring better healthcare to Illinois and to give Illinois its own bank to help with monetary issues. -
Ebony
Our group took a look into the new Ebony exhibit. We learned about the history of fashion in Chicago, specifically the Ebony Fashion Fair. It was created in 1956 by Eunice Johnson and used mainly African American models. This was a large step for African Americans in society especially since it all started at the beginning of the Civil Rights movement. -
Facing Freedom
This was an interactive activity where our group chose an artifact from a box of artifacts all pertaining to a certain subject. In this case, our group got a box of artifacts pertaining to slavery. We chose this slave tag to look further into. We created a label and a small exhibit for the slave tag that was used to identify slaves. Afterwards we looked at an actual exhibit on slavery. -
Lincoln's Law Office
This was where Lincoln spent his 25 years as a lawyer, He first went into partnership with John T. Stuart from whom Lincoln learned most of what he knew about law. When Stuart went into partnership with his son, Lincoln became the partner of a clerk at his law firm, William Herndon. Also in the building where Lincoln worked was a courtroom where he would argue some of his cases. -
Lincoln's Home
This is the home where Lincoln lived with his family during his time as a lawyer and in the state legislature. It is also where he recieved the news that he would be representing the Republican party in the presidential election. Two of his four sons died in the house. Only one, Robert, lived to adulthood. The house is restored, although it is nearly identical to the what it was. -
Lincoln's Tomb
This is the final resting place of Abraham Lincolon and his family. On the outside is an obilisk, in front of which is a larger than life statue of Lincoln. on the four corners of the obilisk are statues representing the four branches of the military who fought in the Civil War, along with the engravings of the 37 states that were in the United States at the time of Lincoln's death. -
Illinois War Memorials
These honored the veterans and those who lost their lives fighting in these wars. The WWII Memorial was comprised of a large white globe and some low-lying black walls in which were etched important dates of the war. On the ground were the names of many Illinois soldiers who lost their lives in the war. The Vietnam memorial was a series of granite walls with the dead's names etched in them. The Korea Memorial (shown above) is a large bell with four soldiers leaning against it. -
New Salem
Here we visited the village where Lincoln lived for a large part of his life. We saw the many jobs he occupied while he lived there. He was postmaster, ran a store, was a land surveyor, ran another store, and was a rail-splitter (which was how he got his nickname during his political career). The village was partially restored to look as it did in the 1800s. There were even volunteers who roleplayed the villagers and told us what they did. It was a very informative and interactive experience. -
The Old State Capital
There was much to see in the old capital building in Springfield. We first saw the Senate and House chambers then the Supreme Court of Illinois. That court is where Lincoln argued many of his cases as a lawyer (he debated over 200 cases a year). There was also much memorabilia from Lincoln's campaign and also from the Civil War. -
Lincoln Museum
This was an interactive, informative, and very interesting trip. The main two exhibits began in a log cabin and a replicated White House. Walking through the log cabin area of the museum taught about Lincoln's early years up to his time as a lawyer. Next, the White House focused mainly on Lincoln's political career; his struggles, his triumphs, and his defeats. The exhibit ends with a wax figure replication of the moments before Lincoln's assasination. Also there were two performances. -
The State Capital
This is the Capitol Building in Springfield where we visited the House chamber with Speaker Madigan, and the Senate chamber with Senator Cunningham. These are places where legislation is debated and either approved or dispproved. It is also where Governor Pat Quinn's (we met him as well) office is. It was an interesting experience and we got to meet a lot of interesting people. They gave us a thorough explanation of how the state legislature works. -
War Museum
At the end of our trip we visited a small war museum. All of the items in it were donated by local veterans, but there were many interesting artifacts in the museum. The man who ran it shared much knowledge of the war along with his own personal experiences in the military.
