Browse Items (30 total)

Note the prized items on display. The young girl has a doll and the boy is standing by his bike. The family dog has a prominent position as well. Lost Grove was an early
name given to the timber areas around the corners of South Homer, Sidney,…

Seated are Bill Heppe, Ellis Wilson, and Bill Green.
John Heppe is in the engine cab, Joe Taylor drives the buggy and Ike Owens has charge of the wagon.
This photograph was also published in Cornsilk and Chaff of Champaign County by Richard L.…

Four generations of Coles have lived in this
house. The Coles owned a dry goods store in Sidney, Illinois from (1873-1978). Pictured is John Cole
(1882-1955). According to Everett Block’s notes, the horse’s name is Sam. The house is still…

On June 18, 1966, Block with the help of George Hawthorne displayed 210 prints of the glass plate negatives Hawthorne had finished developing only the night
before. Shown in the picture above is Mr. and Mrs. McElwee of St. Joseph, Illinois viewing…

Charles Cotton (1860-1949) resided in this home in 1902
when this picture was taken. He married Alice Coddington (1864-1946) and they had three sons Robert, Frank, and Carl (died at birth). The boys Robert and Frank are pictured. Robert is holding…

Unless they are broken, glass plate negatives should be
stored vertically in a snug fitting box. They should not be able to shift or slide in the boxes. We have
lined our box with volara polyethylene foam (an archival quality non-abrasive foam) for…

Glass plates that are not enclosed are in danger of being scratched or
having the emulsion pulled away from the glass, and portions of the image being lost. Four flap
envelopes are the preferred enclosure method for glass plate negatives. These…

Glass plate negative on light box fabricated by Block to
more easily view the negatives. The light box has 12 individually wired light bulbs, so that Block
could precisely control the backlight.

This glass plate negative, along with 200+ others, was
discovered in Everett Block’s attic in 1946.

The Block Collection arrives at the Champaign County Historical Archives in December 2014.