Mary Jane Tonozzi will present “Lebanese Immigration to Spring Valley.” Beginning about 1890, a group of industrious and honest people made the journey from their homeland in Lebanon (now part of Syria) to Spring Valley, Illinois. They turned to what they knew best and became merchants and business men and women. They opened dry goods […]

Laura Kann will present “Italian Immigration and Settlement in the Illinois Valley.” Laura was born and raised in Princeton, has spent 30 years working for the CDC in Atlanta, and then returned to enjoy retired life in her hometown.

Jack Rooney will present “Ravioli Alley Stew,” a unique story of ethnic interaction in coal mining company towns such as Cherry, Illinois. Born and raised in Cherry, Mr. Rooney has a life-long interest in the Cherry Mine Disaster. Cherry is a perfect example of a coal mining “company town.” The Disaster took place on November […]