Roger Peach
The Williamson County Historical Society held a membership meeting on October 27th, 2024 at their museum/library at 105 S. Van Buren Street. Society President Sam Lattuca informed the membership and guests about the societies activities since the last meeting including tours and public programs that had been given and attended and upcoming events and projects on the agenda. Members were also made aware of recent gifts and accessions made to the museum such as photographs, ephemera and family heirlooms donated by visitors to the museum. Lattuca also announced that the society has taken on the project of digitally scanning thousands of original court documents that range in age from 1839 at the beginning of Marion and the county up to the 1960’s to insure their preservation.
The guest speaker for the meeting was Roger Peach who spoke about his latest published book entitled “Jockey Queen”. The book was a biographical piece about a young woman named Lillian Jenkinson Holder who was born on a ranch in Nebraska in 1909. Lillian devoted her life to horse racing and the life of trying to be a female jockey in a male dominated occupation, often racing in Southern Illinois and particularly at the Williamson County Fair tracks and Duquoin Fair grounds.
The museum/library is open to the public for genealogy/history research or tours through the building Wednesday through Saturday from 9:30 A.M. to 3:00 P.M. till Thanksgiving and will then go to a Saturday only schedule through the winter till March.