The changing role of women in aviation For Bev Hartsock, aviation offered a chance to see the world beyond her backyard in the tiny village of Kenney. Bev was one of many Midwesterners referred to us by her friends who knew her dream of learning to fly. People we talked to during research for our
Small towns sometimes produce people who reach for the stars—literally. Gene Armstrong was shot down twice during his two years with the Army Air Corps where he served as a B-17 navigator. His career path later took him to NASA and the development of space vehicles. Known as a problem solver, Armstrong also worked on
Ernest Thorp was captured in 1944 after his B-17 bomber was shot down in the North Sea. The details of his captivity behind enemy lines were revealed in “My Stretch in the Service,” the diary he kept throughout his service with the Army Air Force. As a crew pilot, Thorp put to good use the
William Calvin was known as “Bill” to his friends and “Your Honor” to people who stood in front of his bench on the second floor of the old DeWitt County courthouse. Few people were aware of Major Calvin’s service as a B-17 pilot with the 12th Air Force. The first many people knew of his
The story of Donna Mae Anderson is one of my favorites in the collection because it touches on all the promises and disappointments a young woman faced in the struggle to serve as a military aviator. My research started off with firsthand accounts of Anderson’s knowledge of flying from John Warner, whose landings at Hooterville
When we started work on the special museum exhibit, word spread around the area that we were collecting stories about pilots and people who were involved in the field of aviation. One of those leads brought us to the story of William Shirley Karr. To our delight, Karr had left behind a treasure trove of
Red Irwin, owner and operator of Hooterville Airport in western DeWitt County, rose to the executive level of Gulf Oil after he traded his days as a bold pilot for life as an old pilot. Once again, John Warner’s collection of memorabilia from the time brought the exhibit and story to life. Photographs, items from
Though they were less famous than the Wright Brothers who hailed from Ohio, we have a number of notable aviation pioneers. When I first started my research on Lee Gehlback, I was taken by what can only be described as his dare-devil-winner-take-all approach to flying. Gehlbach was part of our special exhibit on DeWitt County
The long and unending battle for mental health care in Illinois prisons The first report by a court-appointed monitor of mental health care inside Illinois prisons was authored in 2011 by Fred Cohen, a national expert on corrections. Today, the 180-page report remains sealed, according to the terms of an agreement between the state and
In June 2020, the Illinois Auditor General released its report on mental health care in Illinois prisons. The report followed a permanent injunction issued in federal court finding that the Illinois Department of Corrections was "not in substantial compliance" with a settlement agreement both sides agreed to in December 2015. The auditor general notes that
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