The ways we can celebrate Huntley’s history are vast and wonderful. This month we were inspired by the national designation of April as National Poetry Month as our topic of celebration. Hmm, how does poetry and Huntley’s history relate?
In the Local History department of our library, we have wonderful resources available for whatever your local history research may entail. For this poetry research, we used the Illinois Digital Archive (IDA) to review past editions of one of Huntley’s papers, The Farmside. We searched for any type of references involving Huntley residents as published poets. (We even discovered the beginning of Huntley High School’s writing club in 1972 called, The Scribes, who published a booklet of poems and short stories in their first year with community donations.) On our shelves, we discovered the endearing poem “In Huntley, Illinois” by Mrs. Anna Schachtner (pg. 143) from the book “At Home in Huntley 1851-2001.” We even found the inspiring poem, “The Evolution of a Patriot” by Charles H. Stephen in the “Huntley Centennial 1851-1951.” (Book covers are shown in featured image.)
We hope our findings and our examples of research tools inspire and encourage you to come into our library and explore the Local History collection. There are so many memorable treasures waiting to be rediscovered. Instant access can be obtained from your personal electronic device by going online to the IDA website at https://www.idaillinois.org – or better yet, come to the library and use one of our computers. If this posting inspired you to learn more about Huntley’s history or maybe to create your own poem about this friendly village with country charm – we are delighted. Please know that we are here for you.
A few more findings about local poets:
Judy Riedl had two poems chosen for publication in Treasured Poems of America in the Summer 1997 with the publisher Sparrowgrass Poetry Forum.
Sylvia Harmon published “Somehow My Love” in Women’s Household Magazine in the October Issue 1978.
Adam T. Hosteny published “The Scarecrow Walks at Midnight” in Day Break on the Land in 1997. At the time of publication, he was 7 years old according to The Farmside.
