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Gypsy Coeds program in Bishop Hill
June 10, 2017 @ 1:30 pm - 2:30 pm
On Saturday June 10th, author John Butte will present a program about his book, Darlene’s Silver Streak and the Bradford Model T Girls. The book is about the travels of the Gypsy Coeds in their Model T. The Silver Streak Model T automobile used by the Gypsies will be on display at the Dairy Building, located at 410 North Erickson, from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m., with the program and book signing to follow. The program is free and open to the public. It is hosted by the Bishop Hill Heritage Association. For more details, call 309 927-3899 or email bhha@mymctc.net.
The Gypsy Coeds made eight major trips between 1936 and 1942. Led by Darlene Dorgan, whose family ran the Dorgan Café in Bradford for nearly 50 years, a rotating group of 20 young Bradford-area women traveled to 44 states, Mexico, and Canada in a 1926 Ford Model T, nicknamed the Silver Streak. The Gypsy Coeds even had a long correspondence with Ford Motor Co. founder Henry Ford. Ford called the Gypsies his “Model T Girls.”
