Bicentennial Events

As part of Pekin's Bicentennial Celebration, the Pekin Public Library will host a monthly film series, showing a variety of local film footage related to Pekin History! The schedule is:

Saturday, March 23, 2 p.m.: "Lt. Cmdr. Scott Altman, Pekin's First Astronaut"
Pekin Area Chamber of Commerce Annual Dinner, Keynote Address from April 1996. (March 2000 is when Scott commanded the space shuttle Columbia on its famous Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission.)

Wednesday, April 10, 2 p.m.: "Illinois' Memory of the Civil War"
Produced by the Illinois State Archives in 1992 (Historian Jared Olar will have a presentation)

Saturday, May 18, 10 a.m.: "Tazewell County Memories 1932-1970"
Including Pekin footage by Thomas R. Finsom.

Saturday, June 29, 2 p.m.: "History of Pekin (Video Pekin Project) -- Pekin Railroads and Depots"

Saturday, July 13, 2 p.m.: "History of Pekin (Video Pekin Project) -- Pekin High School, Pekin Theatre, Pekin Hospital, Old Post Office"

Saturday, August 24, 2 p.m.: "Pekin Street Cars"

Saturday, September 21, 2 p.m.: "Pekin Trains -- Team H"
Featuring C. & I. M. train footage.

Saturday, October 19, 2 p.m.: "Farming in Tazewell County during the 1930s and 1940s"
Including rural Pekin footage by Thomas R. Finsom.

Saturday, November 16, 2 p.m.: "World War II P.O.W. Stories"
A half-hour video of oral history produced by the Alliance Library System. (Historian Jared Olar will have a short presentation).

Saturday, December 14, 2 p.m.: "We Were There: World War II"
Oral history filmed at Pekin Public Library and other central Illinois libraries.