Greetings, history lovers.
As an Author and Illinois Historian, I enjoy learning about our state’s history and presenting the stories and photographs that make Illinois' history come alive. In my opinion, the next evolution of a modern-day historian is to interact with history by allowing others to add to the richness of the article presentations with additional facts, photographs, and personal and family experiences. This is where a Facebook group excels by allowing feedback, comments, videos, photographs, and images to be added to the presentations, enriching the experience of all readers.
As an Author and Illinois Historian, I enjoy learning about our state’s history and presenting the stories and photographs that make Illinois' history come alive. In my opinion, the next evolution of a modern-day historian is to interact with history by allowing others to add to the richness of the article presentations with additional facts, photographs, and personal and family experiences. This is where a Facebook group excels by allowing feedback, comments, videos, photographs, and images to be added to the presentations, enriching the experience of all readers.
The resources below help students with research and preparation for the Chicago Metro History Fair, and the Illinois Regional History Fairs, all leading up to the state final competition on Illinois History Day held in Springfield, Illinois, each May.
In
October 2012, I started the Facebook group and named it Living History of
Illinois and Chicago®. People from around the world and from all walks of life have joined to participate in this social history venue, forming one of the most interesting educational and entertaining groups on Facebook. The group hosts Junior and Senior High School (6th-12th grades) history and social studies classes with their educators for lesson plans.
I've
recruited dozens of Illinois community, township and county Historical
Societies, History Museum Directors, Museum Curators, and career Historians to
join the group. Many of the members are in public service, including Mayors and
former Mayors from towns and cities all over Illinois. In addition, the group is
loaded with local media broadcasters, including news anchors and researchers
from NBC, ABC, CBS, and other TV and cable networks, plus radio personalities from around
the state. The group boasts about having a number of professional photographers on board who share their own photographs of historic places in Illinois.
In
2013, I started the Digital
Research Library of Illinois History®. The Library includes a few of my personal research papers, including a series about ‘Lost
Town of Illinois’, ‘Chicago’s Forgotten Neighborhoods’, and ‘Defunct Amusement
Parks of Illinois’. The Library is sanctioned by and linked to the Chicago
Metro History Fair, the Illinois History Fair website and the Illinois Historic
Preservation Agency (IHPA) as a prime resource for students, educators and the
public.
Because
of Facebook’s restrictions on each group's number of posted images stored (approx.
5000 per group) the oldest ones are deleted when new ones are posted. I found it
necessary to create a way of -- "Saving
Illinois History, One Story at a Time." -- before the posts on Facebook get deleted. On November 6, 2016, I founded the Digital Research Library of Illinois History Journal™. The Journal presents Illinois history in a friendlier format. Being membership-free, anybody online can
add their comments to the postings in the Journal.
On July 28, 2020, I was removed and blocked from an Abraham Lincoln Facebook group because I provided proof that the post a member made was not at all truthful. Little did I know the person was the group's Administrator. After sleeping on the issue, I decided to start a new Facebook group the next morning, July 29th, and named it "Abraham Lincoln Forum™." After setting up the new group, I began inviting people to join the next morning. In the first two weeks, we had over 1,200 members.
On July 28, 2020, I was removed and blocked from an Abraham Lincoln Facebook group because I provided proof that the post a member made was not at all truthful. Little did I know the person was the group's Administrator. After sleeping on the issue, I decided to start a new Facebook group the next morning, July 29th, and named it "Abraham Lincoln Forum™." After setting up the new group, I began inviting people to join the next morning. In the first two weeks, we had over 1,200 members.
I
offer our members and the general public a free Daily Illinois Newspaper. The Living History of Illinois Gazette™ which has current news from all over the state of Illinois.
To
offset the costs of hosting and management fees for the Digital Research
Library of Illinois History®, Digital Research Library of Illinois History
Journal™, and the Living History of Illinois Gazette™, I opened an online store
with unique Illinois and Chicago logoed items that I personally designed or
re-created. The Illinois History Store® profits fund these Illinois history projects.
Respectfully,
Neil
Gale, Ph.D.
Historian, Author
Living History of Illinois and Chicago®
email: LivingHistoryOfIllinois@yahoo.com
Living History of Illinois and Chicago®
email: LivingHistoryOfIllinois@yahoo.com