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BroMenn donation speaks to 125 years of community service
By Bill Kemp. Published on July 4, 2021.
Carle BroMenn Medical Center has undergone one transformation after another since its modest beginnings 125 years ago. It opened on May 8, 1896, as the 22-bed Deaconess Hospital—this nearly a quarter century before the discovery of antibiotics. Today, the medical center offers everything from cardiac electrophysiology to interventional radiology. About the only thing that hasn’t changed is its central location—where Franklin and Virginia avenues meet in Normal. Deaconess Hospital owes its origin to a group of local doctors who believed Bloomington-Normal was ready to support a second traditional hospital, specif...
Brown’s delivered white-collar education
By Bill Kemp. Published on November 29, 2008.
Business colleges played an important but often-overlooked role in American education. For the better part of a half-century, Brown’s B...
Few locals found fame, fortune in Klondike Gold Rush
By Bill Kemp. Published on September 21, 2008.
Back in the late 1800s, a fair number of Central Illinois residents found themselves in the wilds of Canada’s Yukon Territory panning a...
Turbulent times at 19th century Bloomington hotel
By Bill Kemp. Published on April 4, 2006.
The Ashley House, Bloomington’s largest hotel from the Civil War until its fiery end in 1900, had a tumultuous history replete with fin...
Hollywood Legends Brought Local Author’s Novel to Silver Screen
By Bill Kemp. Published on March 5, 2006.
Bloomington writer Harold Sinclair always looked a little out of place, whether it was standing in the middle of John Wayne and filmmak...
Celebrity life of ‘Baby’ Bliss mired in tragedy
By Bill Kemp. Published on February 26, 2006.
One of the more beloved local figures from Bloomington’s rich past is Baby Bliss, the city’s resident “fat man” who more than a century...