Evan Massey is a former Galesburg High School girls basketball coach who retired as one of the most successful coaches in Illinois history. He writes basketball history features and a weekly Time Capsule column for WGIL.
“This Week in Galesburg History,” there was a wedding in the sky, a Bradley player banned for life, and the Kleines gave $1.5 million to OSF.
This is a look back at the history of Galesburg (and the world). What was going on 100 years ago, 75 years ago, 50 years ago, 25 years ago, and 10 years ago this week?
100 Years Ago — 1926
A Knox College grad was in the news. Dr. Harry McKown, a 1913 Knox grad, got married to Ruth Hurd of Birmingham, Alabama. McKown was a professor at Pitt.
They got married at somewhere between 4,000 to 5,000 feet elevation in an airplane. The pilot, who served as a witness, turned the engine off for the ceremony so the vows could be heard.
They had taken off at New York City.
75 Years Ago — 1951
Bradley University players were involved in one of the college basketball scandals. The headline says that three players were indicted, but it actually became five players.
Players at Bradley, Long Island, CCNY, and Kentucky were all indicted. Players were charged with taking money to shave points in games that their teams were favorites to win, to make the final score closer than the spread.
Gene Melchiorre of Bradley had been the No. 1 pick by the Baltimore Bullets in the NBA draft. Because of his involvement in the gambling scandal, he was banned for life by the NBA.
50 Years Ago — 1976
The Village Pump in the 4L Plaza was a popular place in Galesburg. It was located in the same spot that later would house Hammer’s.
25 Years Ago — 2001
The Streaks doubles team of Amanda Gunther and Julie Felsecker had gone to state in 2000. Gunther was injured and out for the 2001 season. The new No. 1 doubles team was Felsecker and Elizabeth Hauslein.
10 Years Ago — 2016
In a tremendous boost for the community, Mark and Jeannette Kleine gave $1.5 million to OSF HealthCare to create a new pediatric wellness center.
The Mark and Jeannette Kleine Pediatric Wellness Center was a new program to benefit children in Galesburg.
Read more from Evan Massey at masseybasketball.blogspot.com, on X at @MasseyBball, and on Facebook at facebook.com/MasseyBball.
