A teenaged boy-soldier from Normal survived one of the most brutal prison camps in history. Decades after the Civil War, Alpheus Pike wrote a memoir. He detailed horrific sanitary conditions, the murderous behavior of guards and prisoners alike, and amid the privation, the grace notes of human caring that emerged from these trials. Pike was born in Maine in 1846 and came to Bloomington as a young boy.

A teenaged boy-soldier from Normal survived one of the most brutal prison camps in history. Decades after the Civil War, Alpheus Pike wrote a memoir. He detailed horrific sanitary conditions, the murderous behavior of guards and prisoners alike, and amid the privation, the grace notes of human caring that emerged from these trials. Pike was born in Maine in 1846 and came to Bloomington as a young boy.

McHistory goes back in time to explore big moments and small stories from McLean County history. McHistory episodes can be heard periodically on WGLT's Sound Ideas. The series is produced in partnership with the McLean County Museum of History.

McHistory

Civil War prisoner of war Alpheus Pike

This episode of McHistory chronicles a huge temperature drop in the winter of 1836 that unsettled settlers and led to stories and tall tales for generations.

This episode of McHistory chronicles a huge temperature drop in the winter of 1836 that unsettled settlers and led to stories and tall tales for generations.

Death in the barnyards – the sudden freeze of 1836

It takes a beloved or significant figure in the history of an institution to name a building after that person. Illinois State University ended up naming two libraries for Angeline Vernon Milner.

It takes a beloved or significant figure in the history of an institution to name a building after that person. Illinois State University ended up naming two libraries for Angeline Vernon Milner.

Ange Milner was much more than ISNU's first librarian

Bloomington-Normal and McLean County are not really known as a cradle of country music. But there was this one time...in the 1930s. Cynthia May Carver, better known by her stage name “Cousin Emmy,” was a pioneer in country and roots music during the golden age of radio from the 1930s to the 1960s.

Bloomington-Normal and McLean County are not really known as a cradle of country music. But there was this one time...in the 1930s. Cynthia May Carver, better known by her stage name “Cousin Emmy,” was a pioneer in country and roots music during the golden age of radio from the 1930s to the 1960s.

Civil War prisoner of war Alpheus Pike

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