Illinois History Research Paper Titles
Fall 2007
“Territory and Turf: The Civil Rights Campaign in Chicago and Its Failure to Eliminate Segregated Housing”
“A History of Monmouth College”
“Organized Crime in Chicago”
“The World’s Colombian Exposition: The Single Most Important Cultural Event in Chicago’s History”
“Seizing the Airwaves: The Formation of Noncommercial Education Radio in the United States and the First Five Years of WWKS”
“The Education of McDonough County Illinois, 1830s-1880s”
“Greetings from Camp Ellis: Treatment of POWs and Affects on Rural Residents during WWII”
“The 1980s Farm Crisis: From Community to Business to Farm, Who Suffered and Why”
“Chicago’s Rapid Transit”
“One Nation: Social and Political History of Hancock County during the Civil War”
“Sterling, Illinois: The Growth of a Small Town”
“A Little Green A Lot of Gray: The Low Cost and Low Quality of Prison Life at Camp Douglas Chicago, Illinois, 1862-1865”
“Knapheide: History of Success through Struggle”
“Evolving Perspectives: Illinois Citizens’ Views of African Americans from Early Territory to 1870”
“1818 and 1848 Illinois Constitutions”
“The Lincoln-Douglas Debates: The Issues of 1858 and Views of Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas for the Illinois Seat of the United States Senate”
“Bridge to the West”
“Joliet Correction Center Riot of 1975”
“Early History of Western Illinois Normal School”
“The Swedes of Western Illinois: A Comparison of Two Religious Communities”
Fall 2006
“Old School Higher Education: McDonough College in Its Educational and Social Context”
“John A. Logan: Illinois Politician Turned Warrior”
“Peoria and Prohibition: A Wet City Whose Whiskey River Ran Dry”
“Cairo: The Era of Possibility”
“For the Love of the Game?: The ‘Black Sox’ Scandal of 1919”
“The Mormon ‘Horde’ from Illinois: The Nauvoo Legion”
“Chicago’s South Side Irish: Settlement, Religion, and Politics, 1850-1900”
“The Call of the Prairie: The Early Years of Knox College and Monmouth College and the Cities They Serve”
“The Rockford Peaches: The Economic and Social Impact in Rockford, Illinois”
“Prohibition in Western Illinois”
“Clash of the Titans: American and Indian Relations in Illinois”
“A Thin Vein of Hope: The Story of Colchester’s Coal Mining Community”
“Against All Odds: The Illinoisan Settler versus Epidemics and Outbreaks”
“The Time for Toleration has Long since Passed: The Great War and Anti-German Sentiment in Central Illinois”
Spring 2006:
"Pioneers in Service: Airmail in Northern Illinois"
"Rock Island Arsenal: An Arsenal of Democracy in the American Heartland"
"Quincy and Her First Forty Years: A Look at What Made Quincy, Illinois; Prosper from Its First Settlement to the Civil War"
"Into the Abyss of Black Diamonds: Illinois Coal Miners from 1870-1920: Life, Industry, Tragedy, and Safety Legislation"
The 1986 and 1987 Floods of the Des Plaines River: Catalyst For Improvement or Just Two Floods?"
"Stagnation and Speculation: The Rise and Fall of Mississippi River Towns"
"Fulton County Communities and the Railroads that Supported Them"
"'Free' Frank McWorter: A Man Who Saw No Obstacles"
"Land Reclamation: Developments in Fulton County, Illinois, from 1960 to 2006"
"Southern Illinois River Towns: Their Growth During and After the Great Civil War"
"Structure, Support, and the Sufferer: The Rock Island Prison Barracks: December 1863 - July 1865"
"A History of the Economic, Cultural, and Social Prosperity of Cuba, Illinois, and Putman Township from Its Dawning to the 1920's"
Spring 2005:
"The Chicago Public Library: The Early Years"
"Bishop Hill and Nauvoo: The Success and Failure of Two Religious Settlements"
"Galva: The Early Years"
"Cultivating Progress: How Technology Advances in Agriculture Affected Illinois Settlement, 1837-1857"
"Lock and Dam 15: A Bright Light During a Dark Time" (Lock and dam during the Great Depression)
"The Great Depression: How It Affected Illinois"
"Two Brothers' Legacy: The Settlement of Radnor Township and Dunlap, Illinois"
"From Transportation to Recreation: Problems and Solutions of the Hennepin Canal"
"An American Revolution: The Chicago Bears & Their Impact on Professional Football"
"Moving A City" (History of the Chicago Transit Authority)
"The Editor of Controversy: The Life of Thomas Coke Sharp"
"How Prohibition Affected Illinois"
"From Marigolds to Civil Rights: Everett McKinley Dirksen"
"Charles Vilasco Chandler: The Man Who Loved Macomb"
"To Erect A Hospital: A Macomb Woman's Splendid Gift"
"Western Illinois University: The Late 19th Century to the Early 20th Century and Rural Illinois"
"Uproar Of Upton Sinclair's The Jungle: Chicago's Role in Changing These Conditions"
"Chicago: The Democratic Effect, 1960-2005" (the Democratic Party's influence on Chicago and Illinois politics)
Fall 2004:
"John Looney: Rock Island Crime Boss, 1895-1925"
“Historical Viewpoints of Soldiers and Civilians during the Civil War in McDonough County”
“Illinois’ Most Influential Women” (biographical history of the women’s suffrage movement in Illinois)
“The Influence of Political, Social, and Economic Forces on Isolated Communities in West Central Illinois” (comparative study of Pittsfield, New Philadelphia, and Nauvoo)
“Lovel Kimball’s Dream: A Look at the First Generation of Marseilles, Illinois”
“Dement Town” (history of early Dixon, Illinois, and biography of John Dement)
“The History of the Illinois Central Railroad: How Illinois Benefited”
“Influenza in Chicago” (history of the 1918 flu epidemic in Chicago)
“Abolition in Alton” (history of abolitionist activity in Alton, Illinois)
“Bootleggers” the Urban Cowboy of the 1920’s” (comparative history of the bootleggers Al Capone, Kelly Wagel, Charlie Birger, and the Shelton brothers)
“Success in Faith: Wheaton, Illinois” (history of the religious community in Wheaton and its impact on the city)
“The Isolated Amish of Eastern Illinois”
“Vishnu Springs: A Study in American Ingenuity” (history of Vishnu Springs, Illinois)
“Western Illinois University’s Survival and Success During the Great Depression”
“White Slave Trafficking: Chicago Prostitution 1900-1910”
“St. Mary’s of the Lake: A History and Measure of Impact” (history of St. Mary’s seminar and its impact on surrounding cities and towns in Illinois)
“The Railroad and Its Impact on McConnell, Illinois”
“Rock Island: Ferries and Trains, Oh My!” (transportation history of Rock Island, Illinois)
“Gang Affiliations in Chicago” (history of selective gangs in Chicago circa 1970)
“Kaskaskia and George Rogers Clark” (history of early Kaskaskia, Illinois, and the Revolutionary Era campaign of George Rogers Clark)
“The Founders of Barrington and the White Cemetery” (history of early Barrington, Illinois, and of its first major cemetery)
“Some Knox County 19th and 20th Century Examples and History of One Room School Operation and Its Demise” (history of one-room schools in Knox County)