Will County News

The Midewin Heritage Association  offers citizens the chance to assist the US Forest Service in documenting the history of the land that is now the Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie. According to the Association's website: " The purpose of the Midewin Heritage Association is to promote an understanding of the rich cultural and natural history of the land which today is Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie; along with those surrounding areas having a historical connection  to this land. To this end, the organization assists the U.S. Forest Service in researching, documenting, recording and preserving the various aspects of Midewin’s past. We also assist in the presentation and interpretation of those historical and cultural records of Midewin’s history, and its significance. We encourage the support and development of local, state, and national programs promoting the understanding of the history of Midewin. And we hope to foster partnerships for the mutual benefit of organizat...

by ann baskerville I recently had the opportunity to interview a woman who worked at the Joliet Arsenal from 1942-1944.  Although I had known this woman the entirety of my adult life, I had no idea of her experiences working for the arsenal, nor any idea of the dramatic experiences she endured as a result of her work at the Joliet Arsenal. She worked in the fuse bay, making bombs.  One of the chemicals involved in the making of the bombs, tetral, caused her to develop tetral dermatitus.  She was in St. Joe's Hospital  in Joliet for two months and required 14 blood transfusions.  All of her hair fell out.  She "shed every bit of skin off of my body, and my teeth turned grey." She remembers a Catholic Sister working at St. Joe's remarked, "Oh my God, you're like a fish!" upon seeing her peeling skin.  Many Sisters worked at St. Joes, she said, doing all tasks including scrubbing the floor by hand.   Although she could not return to work...