Audrey Marsh King and George Bunsen to be inducted into Belleville Walk of Fame

A businesswoman who played piano and drove race cars and a farmer who helped develop Illinois’ public education system are being inducted into the Belleville Walk of Fame.

Aldermen at Tuesday night’s City Council meeting approved the induction of Audrey Marsh King (1920-2010) and George Bunsen (1794-1872).

Belleville Historical Society President Larry Betz made the recommendations. A brass plaque for each inductee will be installed on Oct. 8 next to the fountain on the public square.

King and Bunsen will join 13 other inductees, ranging from golf legend Bob Goalby to Lyman Trumbull, co-author of the U.S. Constitution’s 13th amendment, which abolished slavery.

“They’re people who made an impact on the history of Belleville through politics, sports, art, whatever it may be, and they brought some sort of fame to the city,” Betz said.

‘Global market strategist’

King’s plaque will identify her as a “global market strategist” because of her success in taking the family business, Marsh Stencil Machine Co. in Belleville, international. She participated in overseas trade missions and developed a network of distributors in 100 countries.

King shattered many glass ceilings by serving as the first woman on various boards, committees, councils and commissions.

An obituary profile by St. Louis Public Radio noted that King also was a pianist, the wife of renowned architect Charles King for 18 years and a pioneering female race-car driver who often bested male competitors.

“This avocation ended at a 1957 race when she rolled her Jaguar XK-140 after its brakes failed,” the profile stated. “Persuaded by her family, she ended her brief racing career.”

Farmer and schoolteacher

Bunsen was a German immigrant who settled in St. Clair County in 1834. He farmed, taught school and served as a county school superintendent and delegate to the Illinois Constitutional Convention of 1847.

“After moving to Belleville in 1857 he established a model primary school to demonstrate best teaching practices and was elected a city school director in 1859,” Betz read from a draft of the plaque’s wording.

“He advocated for the St. Clair County Teachers’ Institute, which improved teaching techniques. In 1857, he was a charter member of the board of directors of the State Board of Education tasked with organizing a teacher-training college, Illinois State Normal University, later Illinois State University.”

Walk established in 2014

Belleville Historical Society established the Belleville Walk of Fame in 2014, the year of the city’s bicentennial, with the induction of five people. Two to four more have been added every two years since that time.

Here are the inductees and their places in Belleville history, as identified on plaques:

2014 — Belleville founder George Blair, Illinois leader and town developer Ninian Edwards, apprentice politician to national leader Lyman Trumbull, star of stage, screen and television Christian “Buddy” Ebsen and masterful athlete Bob Goalby.

2016 — Preeminent town booster Edward A. Daley, entrepreneur and musician Julius Liese and German-American reformers Gustavus (or Gustave) P. Koerner and his wife, Sophia Englemann Koerner.

2018 — Progressive activist Carrie Thomas Alexander-Bahrenburg and citizen pitcher Les Mueller.

2020 — Democracy advocate and West Belleville developer Theodor Erasmus Hilgard and pioneer business executive Ruth Sterling.

Museum tours and concert

The public can tour a home designed by Charles King in conjunction with a concert at 7 p.m. July 20, sponsored by Belleville Philharmonic Society and Belleville Historical Society.

A string quartet will play light classical and “pop” music on the front lawn of the home, which now serves as the Midcentury Modern Architecture Museum, 6 Knoll Drive at West Main Street in Belleville.

People should bring lawn chairs or blankets and snacks. Cold water will be available. The museum opens for tours at 6 p.m. Admission is free. Donations are welcome.