Program: How Corn Changed Itself and then Changed Everything Else

Fall Reboot

Fall brings with it a sentiment of renewal and a familiar call to refresh our sense of community. And now the transition to autumn along with our Fall 2020 programs—once well beyond our horizons—begin to shift keenly into focus. Forty-three guests gathered to enjoy the opening program of this season.  Our thanks to all who by their participation brighten every gathering!

A-maize-ing!

Cynthia Clampitt offered the epic story of what happened when Mesoamerican farmers bred a nondescript grass into a staff of life so prolific, so protean, that it represented nothing less than one of humankind’s greatest achievements. About 10,000 years ago, a weedy grass growing in Mexico possessed of a strange trait known as a “jumping gene” transformed itself into a larger and more useful grass – the cereal grass that we would come to know as maize and then corn. Nurtured by Native Americans, this grain would transform the Americas. It spanned the globe, but it also drove westward expansion in North America, building cities and inspiring innovators and entrepreneurs.

The result is was a bourbon-to-biofuels portrait of the astonishing plant that sustains the world. Vampires, whiskey, Henry Ford, time zones, Fritos, and the Chicago Bears are also part of this remarkable story. And, as Margaret Visser noted in Much Depends on Dinner, “Without corn, North America – and most particularly modern, technological North America – is inconceivable.” Illinois is the second largest corn producer in the nation, and McLean County, Illinois, is the nation’s number one corn-producing county.

Illinois history is corn history – yet, today, many Illinoisans have little direct experience with the sources of their food and the people who produce it. Even for those who know corn well, there is much to learn about its historic impact and why it is so vital today.

Dames and Guests

Attending were: Edith Ahern, Vicky Anderson, Nancy Berchem, Anne Berkeley, Cami Burgess, Carla Carstens, Mary Carter, Ellen Corley, Nancy Dorr, Laura Ekstrom, Kathleen Fox, Carla Funk, Lee Gantz, Laurel Gray, Minnie Marie Mitchell Hayes, Freddie Hayes, Paula Henderson, Katie Ingle, Julia Jackson, Joan Kellogg, Susan Kelsey, Carolyn Knox, Laura Koh Howe, Anne Krauss, Claudia Lane, Judy Lawson, Lisa Lekberg, Barbara Linville, Mary Morton, Ginny McTier, Mary O’Hara, Pat Paul, Jean Perkins, Nancy Robinson, Roberta Roe, Anne Rossley, Katherine Saville, Jackie Schlosser, Cammie Schumacher, Karen Seda, Mary Seda, Nancy Shultz, Peggy Snorf, Edna Strnad, Nina Strnad, Cynthia Szczepanski, Louise Tausché, Kathy Taylor, Judy Thomas, Noren Ungaretti, Judith Urban, Sonya Wolsey-Paige, Courtenay Wood and Martha Zimmerman.

Upcoming

Please join the NSCDA-IL for our October program, “The Lady in Gold: Who Knew? Surprises from Inquiries into My Family History” with amateur genealogist Louise Smith, on Friday, October 30, 2020 at 11 am via Zoom.  You can expect to receive details and an invitation very soon.