Hello. I'm Dr. Neil Gale.
I am an Illinois Historian, Lincoln Scholar, Publisher, Author, and
Researcher. I enjoy presenting stories and photographs that
bring Illinois' history to life. The next evolution of
modern-day Historians is to interact with history by allowing
readers to add to the richness of an article's topic with
additional facts, photographs, and personal or professional
experiences. This approach can help to create a more
comprehensive and engaging understanding of the past. It can
also help to connect people with their history in a more
meaningful way.
Social media, such as Facebook and "X"
(formerly Twitter) can be a real benefit for
Educators and Historians. Crowdsourcing allows users to add to the overall
presentation, enriching everyone's experience. In October 2012,
I started a Facebook group called
Living History of Illinois and Chicago. People from all
over the United States have joined the group to participate in
this social and educational venue. Our common-sense group rules
free the group from "bad actors," making it one of the most
interesting, educational, and entertaining history groups on
Facebook.
The group hosts junior and senior high school (6th-12th grades)
history and social studies classes with their teachers and
educators. The classes use the subject matter for lesson plans
and in preparation for Illinois History Day and Chicago's Metro
History Day projects.
The Digital Research Library of Illinois History® began as a
resource for students and educators. It offered scanned books
from the 19th and 20th centuries in searchable PDF format. In
2022, I migrated everything to my blog,
Digital Research Library of Illinois History Journal™.
Dr. Gale has been collecting Illinois history books for over 40
years. The Journal contains over 1,850 Dr. Gale articles
organized into various categories, making it easy to find
articles on specific topics. Also included are hundreds of
antique books in searchable PDF files. The Journal allows users
to comment on articles, share their stories and photographs, and
collaborate with other researchers.
I'm excited to see how this approach to history can evolve. I
believe that it has the potential to make history more
accessible, engaging, and relevant to people of all ages.
I'm always looking for new ways to interact with history. If you
have an idea, please feel free to contact me.
Thank you for your interest in Illinois history! We're full of
it.
Digital Research Library of Illinois History Journal™ has
over 6.4 million readers. The library holds over 1,950 of my articles,
hundreds of searchable antique books in PDF, historical research papers, and more. The
public can freely make comments adding information and personal
experiences. One of many special researched topics is 140
Defunct Illinois Amusement Parks
in Illinois.
The 1893 World's
Fair Library
The largest collection of 1893 World's Columbian
Exposition documents, research papers, and antique searchable
PDF books online.
Abraham Lincoln Forum™ Facebook Group
On July 28, 2020, I was removed and blocked from an Abraham Lincoln
Facebook group because I provided proof that the post a member made
was not at all truthful. Little did I know the person was the
group's Administrator. After sleeping on the issue, I decided to
start a new Facebook group the next morning. I named it the Abraham Lincoln Forum™. There are
a lot of quality posts, articles, and
photographs.
Dr. Gale's Lincoln Library
As a Lincoln Scholar, I present dozens of my research papers,
time period news paper articles, and a whole lot more.
Living History of Illinois and Chicago® Facebook Group
The Facebook Group is public, so anybody on Facebook can read our
posts. Only group members are allowed to post and comment. I have
instituted a stringent set of posting policies [PG-13] which are moderated and censored
in the group(s) to maintain a
safe place for everybody to learn and participate. Our large membership boasts high
quality, robustly researched posts with lots of pictures and member
interactions.
Illinois History Store®
I've personally created unique designs and recreated
vintage logo products and printe them on hundreds of products including
dozens of styles of shirts and clothing with lots of colors to
choose from. Lots of mug styles, glasses and drinkware, a variety of keychains, home
and office accessories and so much more. You'll get lost in all
the memories that flood your mind with the places, the tastes,
the sounds, etc.. You'll leave with a unique souvenir or two.
The Chicago Postcard
Museum
The Chicago Postcard Museum is a privately endowed, independent
organization devoted to collecting and presenting Chicago history
through postcard imagery and the correspondence sent to others. The
Museum displays a small portion of my personal collection of rare,
antique, vintage and contemporary Chicago postcards.
MY BOOK:
The Midway Plaisance at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in
Chicago
 For
one brief summer in the 1890s, it was the greatest attraction in
Chicago, in all America, in fact, more visited and talked about
than the world's fair it adjoined. Here, amidst Muslim mosques
and Chinese pagodas, European castles and South Sea island huts,
straw-hatted Americans came by the thousands to see Bedouin
warriors, Egyptian belly dancers, lions that rode horseback and
roller-skating bears. Over it all loomed the first giant Ferris
wheel, taller than all but one downtown Chicago skyscraper, but
only by a few feet.
I look at the Midway from the entertainment
aspect. It's the birth of the American amusement park. This was where Americans first "turned out for an
unrestrained good time." Here, the Victorian age of amusements
ended and a new modern age began. For the next hundred years,
Chicago would help lead this revolution in American popular
culture — the revolution that created the modern amusement park
— a
revolution that began here, on the Midway Plaisance, that summer
of 1893.
After the World's Fair closed on November
1, 1893 the Wheel's inventor, George Washington Gale Ferris Jr.,
found a new site for his observation wheel in 1895.
Watch this 1 minute film of the Ferris wheel
RUNNING at
"Ferris Wheel Park."
It was located on Chicago's North Side, at 1288
North Clark Street.
Read more about Ferris Wheel Park's
history in my book "The
Midway Plaisance at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago,"
I present some rare photographs.
MY HISTORY
PROJECT LINKS
1893 World's
Fair Library
Dr. Gale's Lincoln library
Digital Research Library of Illinois History Journal™
Illinois History Store® Vintage Logo Items
Living History of Illinois and Chicago®
Facebook Group
My Book:
The Midway Plaisance at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in
Chicago.
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