Molly Crusen Bishop: When Ingersoll spoke, people listened

Robert Green Ingersoll was one of the most popular speakers in the latter half of the 19^th century. He lived in Peoria around the time of the Civil War. His statue stands today at the very bottom of Glen Oak Park.

Ingersoll was the first Illinois Attorney General and was a famed orator who travelled across the United States for decades, speaking to sold-out crowds and gaining nationwide fame. One of his personal favorite subjects to speak on was William Shakespeare.

Ingersoll had a controversial dislike for organized religion and was often referred to as the “Great Infidel,” yet he spoke tirelessly on his anti-slavery position, for women’s rights, and about maintaining a positive family life.

During the 1850s Frederick Douglass was asked to come to Peoria by a group called the Anti-Slavery Society to speak about the evils of slavery. Peoria at the time was a hotbed on both sides of the slavery issue. In 1853 Illinois passed laws that held fines and imprisonment for any African American, free or slave, coming into Illinois with the intention to settle here.

Douglass mentioned Ingersoll in his autobiography “Life and Times”, when speaking of a visit to Peoria after the Civil War. He said he was told to search for Bob Ingersoll for hospitality if he were refused lodging in Peoria hotels again, as he had been in the 1850s, when Douglass was forced to walk the freezing streets of Peoria all night long.

He did find a hotel room on this visit but decided to call on Ingersoll the next morning. He spoke about how much warmth and human kindness came from him. Ingersoll’s abolitionism was known in Peoria and nationwide.

Robert Ingersoll was born Aug. 11, 1833 in Dresden, New York to a John and Mary Ingersoll, who were both ardent abolitionists. She died when Robert was small. His father was a preacher in a Congregationalist Church and gave fiery sermons against slavery.  

Rev. John Ingersoll would be let go from church to church every few years because his strong beliefs angered his congregants. His father’s treatment by the church had an impact on Robert’s strong dislike for organized religion. Incidentally, Rev. John Ingersoll and Ebon Ingersoll’s daughter, Robert niece, are the only two family members buried at Springdale Cemetery.

The Ingersoll family came to Illinois in the early 1850s and Robert became an attorney in 1854. He opened a law firm with his brother Ebon Clarke Ingersoll named E.C. and R.G. Ingersoll. Robert married Eva Amelia Parker of Groveland, Illinois in 1862 and later had two daughters named Maud and Eva. He strongly believed in the foundation of a happy family.

Robert helped raised the 11^th Regiment Illinois Volunteer Cavalry and took command as the head of Cavalry. He fought in the famed Battle of Shiloh in Tennessee, which was a Union victory, but he was captured by Confederate forces. He was released when he promised not to take up arms again against the Confederacy. This was a common practice in the early part of the Civil War.

He then became the first Illinois Attorney General and was staunch member of the Republican Party. He was quite active politically and his party wanted him to run for governor of Illinois. The party thought he would be an excellent leader and asked him to run and requested him to hide his agnostic beliefs. He ended up not running because he refused to hide his anti-religious beliefs because he wanted to be honest.

Robert gained most of his fame and fortune from speaking. During the second half of the 19^th century going to public speeches was a popular form of entertainment. He did numerous national tours to sell-out crowds and filled halls and theaters. He had a charismatic and exciting speaking style and spoke from memory and emotions. He often charged a dollar to listen to him speak, which was a large sum of money at that time. He spoke about his views on agnosticism during the golden age of “Free Thought” amid much controversy and he was despised for his views. He spoke about literature, on women’s rights such as suffrage, and gave commentary on political views. He talked about rights for African Americans, gave biblical criticism, and philosophy.  He was known as the greatest orator of the second half of the 19^th century.

Robert and his family later moved to New York. He died July 21, 1899 in Dobbs Ferry, New York and Colonel Robert G. Ingersoll is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. He was an abolitionist, a lawyer, and a Civil War veteran and also a beloved family man to his wife and daughters and grandchildren.  

Rauner: We didn’t declare impasse; discusses first year in office

By Mark Fitton

Illinois News Network

SPRINGFIELD — Gov. Bruce Rauner on Monday said his negotiators haven’t declared an impasse in contract talks with the state’s largest public-employee union, but they’re thinking about it.

The governor’s remarks came during an interview with Illinois News Network’s Greg Bishop, during which Rauner reflected on his first year in office.

The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31 on Friday said the Rauner team had unilaterally declared an impasse and blasted the administration for walking out on talks.

While the sides have traded allegations over who was at fault for the two sides leaving Friday without further talks scheduled, Rauner on Monday said his people did halt talks.

After 67 negotiating sessions, Rauner said, “what happened on Friday, our team asked them … ‘Well, gosh, you’ve rejected everything we've ever proposed (and) you’ve offered no new ideas ever — are we at impasse?’

“Our guys didn’t say we were or weren’t (at impasse),” the governor said. “We didn’t take any position. We asked the question, which I believe is a reasonable question.”

The state and AFSCME, which represents some 35,000 state employees, have been in talks for a year and without a contract for about six months.

Agreements signed by the two sides dictate that if either side says an impasse has been reached, the question will go to the Illinois Labor Relations Board for a ruling.

A finding of impasse could raise possibilities including an attempt by the state to impose new contract terms or, perhaps, lead to a strike.

Rauner said his staff is still studying the situation, and he wasn’t ready to announce a decision Monday. “Right now, I don’t want to say what our negotiating team is going to recommend in terms of the next step of process,” the Winnetka Republican said. “I don’t know.”

Rauner says he has honored his promise to not lock out state employees but added, “at some point our team has got to decide: Are we completely just spinning our wheels or are we actually going to get anything done?”

Although the state and AFSCME Council 31 still appear far apart on wages, insurance benefits, work rules and other items, the union has said it does not believe talks have reached impasse.

Not naturally patient

Rauner also briefly discussed his own self-inventory as a first-term governor who’s never held elected office before.

“Obviously, I’m learning as I go,”  said Rauner, 58, who was a successful venture capitalist before entering the 2014 governor’s race and defeating incumbent Gov. Pat Quinn, D-Chicago.

“Sometimes I’m too blunt, too direct, I would say. I call it as I see it, and sometimes that can alienate somebody or a group,” he said. “Sometimes I’m impatient; sometimes I’ve just got to be more patient. I’m not that way by nature.

“I am persistent, and that ain’t going to change, but ... I’ve got to learn a little more patience.”

His agenda, the budget

That said, Rauner is still firmly behind at least five points of his “Turnaround Agenda,” which he says represents structural reform to Illinois’ political and business climates that is necessary if Illinois is to improve its bleak financial condition and halt an out-migration of jobs and people.

Those points include local property tax freezes coupled with “local options” for units of government to cut costs by opting out of prevailing wage laws and contracting rules, as well some items that now must be collectively bargained.

They also include term limits for elected state officials; more independent legislative redistricting; lawsuit reform and changes to the state’s workers compensation system — the latter two of which the governor says are necessary if Illinois is to stop bleeding jobs and grow again.

Rauner’s insistence on his agenda items has put him at loggerheads with legislative Democrats, who hold supermajorities in both chambers of the General Assembly.

He’s rejected their spending plan, which he said was $4 billion in the red, adding that although he’s willing to discuss some new revenue, he won’t do so without some of the reform he wants.

With Illinois now in Month No. 7 of fiscal year 2016 and still without a budget, Democrats contend Rauner’s holding hostage the budget, including funding for some human services.

Governor v. Speaker

While Rauner says he’s willing to negotiate, his comments show him still at odds with Illinois Speaker of the House Michael Madigan, a Chicago Democrat who’s held that position for all but two years since 1983.

“Clearly, the biggest disappointment is our failure, so far, to get Speaker Madigan or the legislators that support him to really negotiate in good faith with us to get structural reforms,” Rauner said Monday.

While the governor insists the No. 1 problem is the economy, the speaker has stuck to his own message: The No. 1 problem facing the state is the deficit budget, and it will take a mix of cuts and new revenues to resolve it.

Madigan maintains the costs of Rauner’s desired changes in collective bargaining, lawsuit reform and workers compensation land too hard on the middle class and are “extreme,” and that Democrats — and even some Republicans — won’t go down that road.

But GOP legislators so far have stood solidly beside Rauner, just as Democrats have aligned firmly with Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton, D-Chicago.

Rep. Elaine Nekritz, D-Northbrook, said she thinks there are areas where Rauner and Democrats can come together, including on portions of the governor’s agenda. But she said Rauner has to take a realistic look at the makeup of the Legislature.

“The governor has overreached given the fact there are Democratic supermajorities in the House and Senate, so to go for the nuclear option just isn't possible.”

Rough first year?

Although not happy about the stalemate in Springfield nor the lack of a contract with AFSCME, Rauner cites record funding for Illinois primary and secondary education as well as new contracts with 17 bargaining units representing some 5,000 workers as high points in his Year 1.

And he says anyone who expects him to back away from what he considers essential reforms needs to think again.

David Yepsen, director of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute, discussed Rauner’s first year in office on Monday before Illinois News Network sat down with the governor.

He suggested that while it might be fair to say, “Gov. Rauner’s had a rough year, Illinois’ has some rough problems.”

Rauner may have spent too much time in campaign mode and not enough in governing mode, Yepsen said, but the governor has also tried to address big problems that he didn’t create — and he still has at least three years to keep at it.

“I give him credit for putting additional revenues on the table,” Yepsen added. “It’s not easy for a Republican to do that. Many in that party don’t like the idea of any additional taxes.”

Yepsen also said he doesn’t necessarily believe either Rauner or Madigan is playing for nothing but supremacy in the November 2016 elections. If either one is, he added, it might be a mistake.

“I don’t think either the Democrats or the Republicans are going to be able to hang this budget dilemma solely on the other,” he said.

'Rosencrantz and Guildenstern' take the stage next at Corn Stock

For the past several years Andrew Rhodenbaugh has helped guide a group of mostly young performers called The Great Work Begins Theatre Troupe as it has staged adapted versions of classics by Shakespeare and the ilk.

They’ve performed in different places in the Peoria area, both outside and indoors, in a method that is largely a collaborative effort between the rewriting and the staging of the plays. Along the way, some fine local talent has gotten some exposure, though limited to the audiences who happen to hear about them.

Now Rhodenbaugh is getting the opportunity to test that method in a community theatre setting when he directs “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead” in Corn Stock Theatre’s Winter Playhouse. The play opens Friday at 7:30 p.m. and continues Saturday, then again on Jan. 21, 22 and 23 at 7:30 p.m. and at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 24.

Rhodenbaugh chose this play “because I thought it would be a good way to bring a little Shakespeare to the Winter Playhouse. It hasn’t been there in quite a while.”

“Rosencrantz and Guildenstern” is not written by Shakespeare, but is a play about “Hamlet.” Rather, playwright Tom Stoppard wrote about the staging of “Hamlet”; the title characters are two courtiers from that play who are observing it from the wings.

In “Hamlet,” Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are minor characters who nonetheless became somewhat major by virtue of one of the last lines of the Shakespeare drama, when another character announces that “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead.”

Indeed, in this play they become the main characters as reality and illusion intertwine until the end when… Well, let’s not give it away.

“What I really like about this show is that it is a play that is aware of itself being a play. It examines the structure of a play and there is a lot of breaking the fourth wall,” Rhodenbaugh said, referring to the theatre term for interacting with the audience while performing.

That’s a good thing in some plays, including “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern,” he added. “I want the audience to leave her knowing it is possible to be an active participant in a play, even if that just means you can feel as if you actually are existing in the same space as the characters.”

That is one of the strengths of The Great Work Begins group, particularly when it performs outside at Camp Wokanda, near Mossville. There audiences are made to feel somewhat part of the action because the stage is actually the ground directly in front of them.

But a key to making the collaborative method work in those productions is that there are no technical issues as with a community theatre that has sound and lights and uses full costuming and sets, Rhodenbaugh said. “We work well together to bring it about,” he said.

Rhodenbaugh said he wasn’t sure that method would work in this case, where there needs to be people in charge of different aspects to make it all happen and one director overseeing it all. “It was an experiment and some of it worked. I admit I will do some things different the next time I direct here, but I have enjoyed this experience and the people I’m working with. I’m glad I did it,” he said.

He added that he found through this process that his strengths are in performing. “But this presented my with a whole new set of challenges and I enjoy challenges. I definitely want to direct again so I can continue to learn,” he said.

Rhodenbaugh praised his cast of 13 performers, a mixture of community theatre veterans and some newcomers. Most, however, have performed with The Great Work Begins.

Rosencrantz is portrayed by Brett Harlow in his first adult role at Corn Stock after performing in youth shows. Guildenstern is portrayed by Tony Pagan in his first Corn Stock show in several years. Rhodenbaugh praised both for their hard work in the challenging roles where they are on stage the entire time.

Liz Scoville is Player, while Tannen Skriver portrays Hamlet, Hannah Shelby is Ophelia, Paul Arbisi is the Ambassador, Horatio is Blake Stubbs and the Troupe of Actors are portrayed by Ben Maxwell, Madison Boedecker and Jerrod Barth.

Veterans of Corn Stock and other area community theatres are Charles Richard Brown as Claudius, Becky Clifton as Gertrude and Nathan Irwin as Polonius.

Jess Hemmis is assistant director.

“This has been a challenge for me because I’ve had to worry about all the tech stuff that goes with doing a show in this space. I’m not used to that. But I said from the start this would be a show where everybody contributes and they have,” Rhodenbaugh said.

Tickets for “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead” are $10 for adults and $7 for students and they can be reserved by calling (309) 676-2196.

Rauner: We didn’t declare impasse; discusses first year in office

By Mark Fitton

Illinois News Network

SPRINGFIELD — Gov. Bruce Rauner on Monday said his negotiators haven’t declared an impasse in contract talks with the state’s largest public-employee union, but they’re thinking about it.

The governor’s remarks came during an interview with Illinois News Network’s Greg Bishop, during which Rauner reflected on his first year in office.

The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31 on Friday said the Rauner team had unilaterally declared an impasse and blasted the administration for walking out on talks.

While the sides have traded allegations over who was at fault for the two sides leaving Friday without further talks scheduled, Rauner on Monday said his people did halt talks.

After 67 negotiating sessions, Rauner said, “what happened on Friday, our team asked them … ‘Well, gosh, you’ve rejected everything we've ever proposed (and) you’ve offered no new ideas ever — are we at impasse?’

“Our guys didn’t say we were or weren’t (at impasse),” the governor said. “We didn’t take any position. We asked the question, which I believe is a reasonable question.”

The state and AFSCME, which represents some 35,000 state employees, have been in talks for a year and without a contract for about six months.

Agreements signed by the two sides dictate that if either side says an impasse has been reached, the question will go to the Illinois Labor Relations Board for a ruling.

A finding of impasse could raise possibilities including an attempt by the state to impose new contract terms or, perhaps, lead to a strike.

Rauner said his staff is still studying the situation, and he wasn’t ready to announce a decision Monday. “Right now, I don’t want to say what our negotiating team is going to recommend in terms of the next step of process,” the Winnetka Republican said. “I don’t know.”

Rauner says he has honored his promise to not lock out state employees but added, “at some point our team has got to decide: Are we completely just spinning our wheels or are we actually going to get anything done?”

Although the state and AFSCME Council 31 still appear far apart on wages, insurance benefits, work rules and other items, the union has said it does not believe talks have reached impasse.

Not naturally patient

Rauner also briefly discussed his own self-inventory as a first-term governor who’s never held elected office before.

“Obviously, I’m learning as I go,”  said Rauner, 58, who was a successful venture capitalist before entering the 2014 governor’s race and defeating incumbent Gov. Pat Quinn, D-Chicago.

“Sometimes I’m too blunt, too direct, I would say. I call it as I see it, and sometimes that can alienate somebody or a group,” he said. “Sometimes I’m impatient; sometimes I’ve just got to be more patient. I’m not that way by nature.

“I am persistent, and that ain’t going to change, but ... I’ve got to learn a little more patience.”

His agenda, the budget

That said, Rauner is still firmly behind at least five points of his “Turnaround Agenda,” which he says represents structural reform to Illinois’ political and business climates that is necessary if Illinois is to improve its bleak financial condition and halt an out-migration of jobs and people.

Those points include local property tax freezes coupled with “local options” for units of government to cut costs by opting out of prevailing wage laws and contracting rules, as well some items that now must be collectively bargained.

They also include term limits for elected state officials; more independent legislative redistricting; lawsuit reform and changes to the state’s workers compensation system — the latter two of which the governor says are necessary if Illinois is to stop bleeding jobs and grow again.

Rauner’s insistence on his agenda items has put him at loggerheads with legislative Democrats, who hold supermajorities in both chambers of the General Assembly.

He’s rejected their spending plan, which he said was $4 billion in the red, adding that although he’s willing to discuss some new revenue, he won’t do so without some of the reform he wants.

With Illinois now in Month No. 7 of fiscal year 2016 and still without a budget, Democrats contend Rauner’s holding hostage the budget, including funding for some human services.

Governor v. Speaker

While Rauner says he’s willing to negotiate, his comments show him still at odds with Illinois Speaker of the House Michael Madigan, a Chicago Democrat who’s held that position for all but two years since 1983.

“Clearly, the biggest disappointment is our failure, so far, to get Speaker Madigan or the legislators that support him to really negotiate in good faith with us to get structural reforms,” Rauner said Monday.

While the governor insists the No. 1 problem is the economy, the speaker has stuck to his own message: The No. 1 problem facing the state is the deficit budget, and it will take a mix of cuts and new revenues to resolve it.

Madigan maintains the costs of Rauner’s desired changes in collective bargaining, lawsuit reform and workers compensation land too hard on the middle class and are “extreme,” and that Democrats — and even some Republicans — won’t go down that road.

But GOP legislators so far have stood solidly beside Rauner, just as Democrats have aligned firmly with Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton, D-Chicago.

Rep. Elaine Nekritz, D-Northbrook, said she thinks there are areas where Rauner and Democrats can come together, including on portions of the governor’s agenda. But she said Rauner has to take a realistic look at the makeup of the Legislature.

“The governor has overreached given the fact there are Democratic supermajorities in the House and Senate, so to go for the nuclear option just isn't possible.”

Rough first year?

Although not happy about the stalemate in Springfield nor the lack of a contract with AFSCME, Rauner cites record funding for Illinois primary and secondary education as well as new contracts with 17 bargaining units representing some 5,000 workers as high points in his Year 1.

And he says anyone who expects him to back away from what he considers essential reforms needs to think again.

David Yepsen, director of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute, discussed Rauner’s first year in office on Monday before Illinois News Network sat down with the governor.

He suggested that while it might be fair to say, “Gov. Rauner’s had a rough year, Illinois’ has some rough problems.”

Rauner may have spent too much time in campaign mode and not enough in governing mode, Yepsen said, but the governor has also tried to address big problems that he didn’t create — and he still has at least three years to keep at it.

“I give him credit for putting additional revenues on the table,” Yepsen added. “It’s not easy for a Republican to do that. Many in that party don’t like the idea of any additional taxes.”

Yepsen also said he doesn’t necessarily believe either Rauner or Madigan is playing for nothing but supremacy in the November 2016 elections. If either one is, he added, it might be a mistake.

“I don’t think either the Democrats or the Republicans are going to be able to hang this budget dilemma solely on the other,” he said.