Dr. John Hallwas named Illinois State Historical Society president
Former Western Illinois University professor and director of Regional Collections Dr. John Hallwas has been elected as the new president for the Illinois State Historical Society.
Hallwas, a long-time member of the Illinois State Historical Society, was elected at its annual meeting and awards ceremony on April 29. Hallwas has been a long-time Society member and has been a writer, speaker and social activist. He will serve a two-year term as president.
Hallwas received his bachelor of science degree in Education and master of arts degrees from Western Illinois University in 1967 and 1968. He earned his Ph.D. Degree from the University of Florida and soon after was hired to teach at WIU.
His 34-year career as a professor involved teaching British and American literature, creative writing and cultural-historical Honors College classes. During that time, he also held a 25-year position as director of Regional Collections at the WIU library’s Archives and Special Collections unit.
Hallwas has also spoken widely, in more than 100 Illinois communities, and many places in other states. He has taught dozens of adult-education programs over the years, as well.
Hallwas is a published living author on topics related to Illinois. He has written or edited more than 30 books and monographs, as well as introductions to various works by other authors, and more than 500 journal, magazine, and newspaper articles.
Among his most popular books are two Illinois-based historical accounts about lawbreakers: “The Bootlegger: A Story of Small-Town America”(1998) and “Dime Novel Desperadoes: The Notorious Maxwell Brothers”(2008). The only historical overview of the state region where he has lived for many years is his “Western Illinois Heritage”(1983), and the only anthology of writings from our state’s early generations is his “Illinois Literature: The Nineteenth Century”(1986).
He has also written half a dozen plays related to Illinois history, including “The Conflict: A Soldier’s Memories of the Civil War”(performed at WIU’s Hainline Theatre in 2011) and “The Mysterious Bard of Sangamo”(filmed in Springfield for regional television in 2021). He has also done many regional radio and TV programs, such as Prairie State Journal(a weekly radio broadcast in the early 1990s, focused on Illinois history) and A Sense of Place in Illinois — with Writer John Hallwas(a 2020 documentary focused on his experience with Illinois history).
He currently writes a popular article series for Illinois Heritagemagazine, titled “Forgotten Voices from Illinois History” (2016-2023), focused on a host of authors from all over the state, in every generation since the frontier. That has prompted a new book by the same title, which will appear this spring.
The most published writer ever associated with WIU, Hallwas was designated upon retirement as the university’s only Distinguished Professor Emeritus, and because of his advocacy of broad education — for self-growth, deeper understanding, and social commitment — an annual educational event was named for him: The John Hallwas Liberal Arts Lecture.
He has received more than a dozen other awards for his writings and his social activism for various causes. Among them are the National University Continuing Education Award (1981), for excellence in adult-education programming; the Mid-America Award, from the Society for the Study of Midwestern Literature (1994), for distinguished contributions to the study of Midwestern literature; the Studs Terkel Humanities Service Award (2004), from Illinois Humanities, for significant community and regional programs; the Society of Midland Authors Award (2009), for the “Best Biography from the Midwest” (for “Dime Novel Desperadoes”), and the Lifetime Achievement Award, from the Illinois State Historical Society (2018), for contributions to Illinois historical understanding.
Among his current efforts in conjunction with the Illinois State Historical Society is a new, statewide memoir writing (and publishing) program that will involve senior citizens in every part of Illinois. Seniors will be prompted to write short personal accounts about aspects of their early experience in the state (during the 1945 to 1975 era), involving such matters as family life, school days, community activities and earning a living.
County historical organizations throughout the state are being encouraged to get involved — so as to foster more comprehension of their locale, deeper appreciation for senior citizens, better understanding of various cultural changes, and a sense of community commitment. The title for the new Illinois program is “The Land and the People Hold Memories”, which is a line from a poem by Carl Sandburg, an author born in Galesburg that Hallwas has repeatedly written and spoken about.
Hallwas has already begun to promote the new memoir program around the state and he will be advocating Illinois history education programs, recognition for local historical efforts, the placing of markers at notable historic sites, and membership in the 124-year-old Illinois State Historical Society.
This article originally appeared on The McDonough County Voice: Dr. John Hallwas named Illinois State Historical Society president
