The IBEX Archive:
ESLARP's Social History Project
In the Spring of 1999, using monies provided from a Partnership Illinois grant, the East
St. Louis Action Research Project commissioned the preparation of an on-line history
project concerning the city of East St. Louis. In its final form, IBEX (the Illinois
Bottomland Explorer), will serve as a freely available resource allowing tourists,
students, scholars and other interested individuals to examine historical documents,
primary and secondary sources, and oral history interviews to which access has, until
recently, been rather limited. The project will consist of several types of user
interfaces--ranging from straightforward timelines and map-based methods to more
sophisticated database-driven presentations tailored to better suit the user's individual
needs--and incorporate many different types of sources from a wide range of perspectives.
As a first step toward achieving these ends, it was necessary to construct an archive
of historical data about the city of East St. Louis. With relatively few readily
available published works to draw from, the time-consuming task of scanning archival
material from the Illinois Historical Library, SIU-E's Special Collections, the Illinois
Historical Survey, the East St. Louis Public Library and the Missouri Historical Society
became a major part of our efforts and, to research librarians in each of these
institutions, we owe a debt of gratitude. Perhaps an even larger debt is owed to
the local historians, many themselves residents or former residents of East St. Louis, who
allowed excerpts of their self-published works to be reproduced here.
This archive represents only a small percentage of existing works on East St. Louis.
It should be enough, however, to provide readers with a broad spectrum of
perspectives and interests with the raw materials to begin their own study or to simply
learn about the work of others. The works were reproduced as faithfully as possible
and any editing or additions have been clearly labelled as such. So peruse the
archive, enjoy, and please do not hesitate to send any comments, corrections, or additions
to riverweb@ncsa.uiuc.edu.
Available Locations include:
 | East St. Louis Guidebook (1936) An
unpublished guidebook to the city prepared by the Federal Writers Project |
| American Notes (1842) Excerpts from Charles
Dickens narrative of his travels in America |
| The First Steamboat on the Western Waters (1871) A
description of the first steamboat to operate in the West that reminds us that
transportation, so integral to the development of ESL, was not always to be taken for
granted |
| Historical Lecture (1871) Transcript of a speech about ESL's early history and geography delivered before
the Literary and Historical Society of East St. Louis by Dr. Isaac Piggott |
| My Own Times (1879) Excerpts from the autobiography
of former governor and Belleville resident John Reynolds |
| The Improvement of the Mississippi River (1896) Transcription
of a speech describing in some detail the mechanics of making the river navigable |
| The Great Cyclone (1896; reprinted 1997) Excerpts
from a book commemorating the destructive events of May 27, 1896 |
| Pictorial East St. Louis (1906) A book of photographs
capturing images from the turn of the century...a period of rapid growth for ESL |
| East St. Louis: Past, Present, and Future (1909)
An address praising ESL's growth as a city and predicting its continued greatness in the
future |
| Picturesque St. Louis (1909) F.A.
Reid's book about St. Louis contains a section on the Illinois side of the river which has
been reprinted here |
| A Brief History of St. Clair County
(1928) Excerpts from A Centennial History of McKendree College designed
to provide readers with an overview of the region's history |
| East St. Louis Blue Book (1936) A snapshot of life
in 1930s East St. Louis that describes the cities businesses, government, churches, and
social institutions |
| The Romantic Story of Cahokia (1943) A
commemorative book describing the history of and the area surrounding the oldest
church west of the Appalachians |
| Illinois Vignettes Series of short essays
and articles designed to provide readers with a brief overview of Illinois history |
| Gateway to the Past Excerpts from the Illinois Dept.
of Transportation Survey of ESL conducted before the construction of an interstate
extension |
| Black Role Models of Greater St. Louis (1982, 1984)
Dr. Sheryl Clayton's profiles of several hundred prominent African-Americans from the East
St. Louis area |
| Works by Bill Nunes Excerpts from works by a local
historian interested in preserving the memory of ESL's past. Also includes links to
works by other authors interested in ESL history and nostalgia such as W. Edward English and Rube Yelvington. |
| Temporary Repository Home for material that,
while not immediately useful, might become so in the future. This option will not be
available once the site becomes more complete |
| Useful Holdings of the Missouri
Historical Society List of holdings at the Missouri Historical Society that pertain to East St. Louis (doc file) |
