Editor's Page, The

Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society, Winter 2003/2004

This issue of the Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society primarily deals with the history of the state in the twentieth century. For one hundred years historians spoke of the 1800s as "the last century" and are slowly getting used to the fact that the phrase now refers to the period between 1900 and 2000. All of the current articles deal with events that happened during the last century but are relevant to any readers who are interested in the general history of Illinois. One of the articles looks at the activities of women's groups on the home front during World War I, another examines the challenges of instilling character education in children in rural Illinois during the 1910s, 1920s, and 1930s, and a third chronicles the role of Paul Douglas in the changing dynamics of American liberalism during the 1940s and 1950s. War, education, and politics-our authors have certainly covered the gamut.

Virginia Boynton's work on the members of Illinois Woman's Committees tells us about the contributions made by Western Illinois women to the World War I effort. A professor at Western Illinois University, she shows how the war-time experiences of these women prepared them for playing larger roles in their own post-war communities.

In her article about the delivery of character education to children in Macoupin County, Paula McNally shows how national expectations and events were translated by local educators to better fit the needs of individual localities. A recent recipient of a doctorate, she vises the experiences of long-term teachers to show how they could meet the requirements of the curriculum while maintaining the unique structures of separate communities.

Jonathan Bell, a professor of American history in England, utilizes the political career of Illinois United States Senator Paul Douglas to examine the fate of the American reform movement after World War II. He illustrates how, in order to survive the political chill of the Cold War , Douglas had to abandon his long-held liberal economic philosophies.

If our authors are any indication, the history of the state's last century is in good hands.