Browse Items · Decatur Public Library Local History Photo Collection

Charlotte Wait Holder' Oral History

This is the oral history of Charlotte Wait Holder. She was interviewed by Betty Turnell on August 10, 1985. The interview includes her childhood and early Decatur.

Tags: 14-room house, 815 W. Main St., Amusement Park, Arcade Hotel, automobile, Barn, Bermuda, Betty Turnell, Bicycle, Blue Book, Bob Hope, Buick, changes in Decatur, Charlotte Wait Holder, childhood, Citizens Building, clubhouse, Country Club, cruise ship, Decatur Club, Decatur High School, Decatur IL, department stores, Downtown, Dreamland Lake, Dreamland Park, England, Ethel Barrymore, Fairview Park, fashion, fire, Fishing Club, Florida, Ford Model T, France, Gebhart Store, golf, golf house, Gushards Store, high-top shoes, horse, Interurban station, interurbans, interview, Italy, Jerusalem, Lemonwood School, Lincoln Highway, Lincoln Theatre, Mary French School, Medira, men's club, merry-go-round, Miami FL, Michigan, New York, New York City, Ohio, oral history, Powers Opera House, Powers Theatre, private club, recording, road markers, roller coaster, Roosevelt Junior High School, ship, South Side Country Club, Southmoreland, Spain, stage plays, Stewarts Store, Streetcars, summer vacation, swimming lake, swimming pool, tennis court, tire blow outs, train, Transfer House, Wait-Cahill Wholesale Company, wholesale drug and notions store, winter vacation, Wood St. School

Mrs. Frank M. Ware

This is the oral history of Mrs. Frank M. Ware. She was interviewed by Betty Turnell on August 31, 1984. The interview includes her childhood and career.

Tags: "speedys" letters, 1984, A.G. Webber, Absolum Newland, accounting department, August 1984, automobile tires, bank failure, Betty Turnell, bookkeeping machine, brother's surgery, Brown's Business College, cactus, cafeteria, carbon paper, Caterpillar Co., Caterpillar Military Engine Co., changes to Decatur, Chautauqua, choir, cottonwood tree, crystal radio sets, Decatur High School, Decatur IL, Decatur Lumber Co., doctor's office, Dr. N.D. Meyers, Dr. William Barnes, Dune School, education, electronics courses, Fairview Park, Faries Manufacturing Co., First Lutheran Church, Flood, Florida, Forest Grove School, Frank Ware, general labor, George W. Keller, Great Depression, greenhouse, grocery store, hauling coal, Helen Harder, Hilltop Greenhouse, interview, Jackson St. School, Jasper County IL, Johns Hill, lap rugs, Leader Iron Works, Lincoln Coop Apartments, Lincoln Flower Shop, Log Cabin, Louisa Newland, Madam Corolla Lous Tuca, McKinley assassination, mortgage, Mound School, Mr. Barber, Mrs. Frank M. Ware, neighborhood picnic, Nelson Park, new pews, oral history, Payroll, perpetual inventory, Postal Service, pottery, purchasing department, radio diagrams, raising plants, ready-made radios, receptionist, recording, retirement, sales department, short-hand, Signal Depot, singing, small business, Snake Hill, St. Mary's Hospital, Staley Company, Streetcars, succulents, T.T. Springer, toolmaker, Transfer House, truck barn, voice lessons, Warren St. School, Weber Fill, William Shorb, World War I, World War II, WWI, WWII

Dean Mesnard's Oral History

This is the oral history of Dean Mesnard. He was interviewed by Betty Turnell on April 9, 1986. The interview includes his childhood, career in insurance, and changes to Decatur.

Tags: 1986, accounting, April 1986, Avon Theater, Bazley's Meat Market, Beach House, Betty Turnell, Bijou Theater, Brintlinger Funeral Home, broken home, Bryn Mawr PA, business major, C.L.U., changes to Decatur, Chartered Life Underwriter, childhood, College of Life Underwriters, contractor, Dean Mesnard, debit company, Decatur Club, Decatur High School, Decatur IL, Decatur Memorial Hospital, Dr. Beadles, Empress Theater, Fairview Park, family life, financial planning, G.I. Bill, Great Depression, heating engineer, inflation, insurance office, interview, Lake Decatur, life insurance, Life Underwriter's Training Council, Lincoln Apartments, Lincoln Hotel, Mary W. French School, Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, Millikin University, mow lawns, mutual companies, OH100, old gravel pit, oral history, painter, Piggly-Wiggly, Prof. Glen Smith, Pythian Home, rake leaves, recording, Roosevelt Junior High School, salesmanship, Shinner's Meat Market, shovel snow, Steven's Creek, stock companies, swimming, Texaco Light House, Texaco Tower, Transfer House, Williamson Heating Company of Cincinnati, Woodrow Wilson Junior High School, workmen's compensation, World War II

Mrs. Erma Wait Cook's Oral History

This is the oral history of Erma Wait Cook. She was interviewed by Betty Turnell on August 14, 1985. The interview covers her family's businesses in Decatur, and her childhood.

Mrs. Jane Lee's Oral History - Recording

This is the recording of the oral history of Mrs. Jane Lee. She was interviewed by Robert Williams on January 31, 1990. The interview includes her life in Decatur, and working for the Herald and Review.

Tags: "HMS Pinafore", "Little Prince", "Quality Street", "Red Mill", 1990, Alex Van Praag Sr., Armistice Day, Betty Jo Eickenberry, Central Railroad Depot, childhood, classified ad department, DAR, Decatur and Macon County Hospital, Decatur High School, Decatur IL, Dr. Jones, Elmer Nickel, Ethel Parkinson, Fires, Freda Douthit, GAR, Glee Club, Governor Oglesby Mansion board, Grand Army of the Republic, Great Depression, grocery stores, H.C. Schaub, Helen Gorham, Herald and Review, home birth, Howard Millard, ice block, Illinois Central Railroad, Indian schools, international traveling, Interurban, Interurban station, interview, January 1990, Jeanette MacDonald, Lake Decatur, Lincoln School, Linn and Scruggs, Louise Fyke, Macon County Conservation District, Macon County Hospital, Macon County Newsletter, Marietta School, Moweaqua mine disaster, Mrs. Jane Lee, Mt. Zion IL, OH91, oral history, plays, Poetry, poetry club, recording, Red Cross, Robert Williams, Roosevelt Junior High School, Shellabarger Mansion, sound recording, St. Mary's Auxiliary, stalker, Stephen Decatur Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, streetcar, Switchboard, Toonerville Trolley, transcription, Transfer House, traveling, typing, Westminster Presbyterian Women, Women's Relief Corp, World War I

Richard Rodgers' Oral History #1 - Recording

These are the recordings of Richard Rodgers' first oral history. He was interviewed by Betty Turnell on February 8 and 15, 1984. The interview includes his childhood, Decatur around World War I, and his work with Linn and Scruggs.

Tags: 1984, air conditioning, automobiles, Baseball, Betty Turnell, Bijoux Theatre, Blue Book, board room, childhood, chimes, Clothing, Coal Mines, cook's stove, Decatur Civic Orchestra, Decatur IL, Decatur Public Library, Downtown, electricity, Empress Theatre, family orchestra, February 1984, Federal Home Loan Act, Feltman and Curm, FHA, First Methodist Church broadcast, Great Depression, Gushard Building, Gushard store, homogenization, Interurban, interview, John Philip Sousa's band, Lincoln Square, Lincoln Theatre, Linn and Scruggs, marimba, Millikin Orchestra, Millikin University, Music, Musician, Newspapers, oboe, OH75, oral history, out houses., pasteurization, public transportation, Pugh School, Radio, recording, refrigeration, Richard Rodgers, Roosevelt Junior High School, salt water taffy, shoe repair, Shoe Store, Shoes, shopping, sound recording, Stephen Decatur High School, Street Cars, Swarthout Brothers, telephones, The Anvil Chorus, transcription, Transfer House, triangle, unpaved streets, vaudeville theatre, vitaphone programs, WJBL station, World War I, WWI, xylophone

Photos of East Main Street, Decatur, IL.

Photograph of people and dog, 200 Block E. Main St. at Water St. The Millikin Bank is the building in the foreground, photo ran Review 4/3/1910. Photos of 432 E. Main St. taken in 1943 and 1934. Photos of Ford Garage E. Main and Franklin, taken 1927.…

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