Book of the Year Award Winner to Discuss Book at College of DuPage

Submitted by Lewis University:

Dr. Dennis H. Cremin, Lewis University professor of history and director of the Lewis University History Center, recently received the Russell P. Strange Book of the Year Award from the Illinois State Historical Society for his book titled “Grant Park: The Evolution of Chicago’s Front Yard.” 

Dr. Robert McColley, professor emeritus at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, presented the award on behalf of the ISHS. The event was held April 26 at the Executive Mansion in Springfield.

Cremin's book shares how the evolution of Grant Park was a gradual process, at first fraught with a lack of funding and organization, and later challenged by erosion, the railroads, automobiles, and a continued battle between original intent and conceptions of progress. 

Throughout the book, Cremin, a Naperville resident, shows that the parkland continues to serve "as a display case for the city and a calling card to visitors."

The Illinois State Historical Society is independent of the State of Illinois and the Historical Library, but continues to actively promote the study of Illinois history. The society is a not-for-profit organization that encourages everyone from university scholars to local historians to take an active part in Illinois history.

Cremin will discuss his book at 3 p.m. Saturday, May 10 at the College of Dupage Library in Glen Ellyn.