For Your Listening Pleasure

Nearly a year ago I approached Illinois Public Radio about partnering on a radio series about the ways Illinois - and Illinoisians - have shaped the history of our country. The resulting six part-series, aided by the adept production prowess of Alison Cuddy, is now on the air and available to stream for your listening pleasure.

Each episode is a window onto Illinois in action. But through the window is the reflective patriotism and daily work by everyday people to bring America into being.

The Roads that Built America, with Jeanne Schultz Angel and Erica Holtz, centers the role of Green Book, Route 66 and the impact of the Interstate Highway System on small towns.

How the Declaration shaped Native American History with Kim Sigafus isn't just an essential history lesson grounded in our founding text, it is an invitation to re-educate ourselves about the Native experiences, voices, and histories that have too often been left out of America's story.

Connie Martin and Leila Wills, link the coded patterns in quilts during the underground railroad to the ongoing abolitionist work that took shape with the Black Panther Party 150 years later, in the episode entitled "From quilt codes to heritage trails."

In "The Declaration Still Has Work to Do for Us" Julie Emig of the McLean County Museum of History and Mike Matejka of the Illinois Labor History Society discuss a how a public program exploring phrases from the Declaration and connecting historical meaning to modern life, tried to make room for people to feel comfortable sharing their thoughts and questions in public.

We were able to create and curate this dynamic conversation series because the humanities community in Illinois is broad, diverse, and plentiful. It's emblematic of our approach to commemorating the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Namely, to leverage the anniversary on behalf of the public humanities. It's the perfect excuse to uplift undertold accounts, invigorate the power of place, but, most of all, to amplify the stories that people are already telling and the histories that have already been written.

The radio series is, 'in the can" as they say in the film world. It's been scripted, speakers invited, recorded, edited, audio levels balanced, teasers and finished pieces aired. Final versions are available to stream right now.

But Illinois Humanities has been at work doing something else - for the listening pleasure of people in the future: Illinois Voices 250 is an effort that is underway through the end of October. We are recording conversations with people in all 102 counties of Illinois about this moment. We prompt conversations with questions like, "What is a memory from your childhood? What is a time you were proud - or conflicted - about this country?" "What do you want the United States to be like during our 300th Birthday?"  The recordings will be archived at the Library of Congress thanks to our partnership with StoryCorps Studios.

We've been hosting public recording days around the state and we gathered conversations from people from 19 different counties alone during our time at the State Fair in Springfield.

You don't have to come to a recording day - you can be part of Illinois Voices 250 at your kitchen table or with community at your church or library. To record: