Archive for the ‘featured document’ Category


If You Shoot For The Moon…

Archive Entry Date: 03/08/1981

An in-depth profile of the remarkable woman who first mentored Richard Pryor as an artist

2 Women Entertainers Slain In Motel

Archive Entry Date: 9/30/1964

Two “entertainers” were murdered at Bris Collins's motel over an unpaid debt

Richard Pryor vs. Patricia Pryor

Archive Entry Date: 3/4/1966

Richard Pryor's divorce complaint, filed against his first wife Patricia five years after their wedding

Prostitution Counts Name 5 Defendants

Archive Entry Date: 9/10/1965

When police raided the brothel of Richard's father and stepmother, Buck ran and Ann stayed

Father of 5 Fatally Shotgunned At Elk’s Club

Archive Entry Date: 4/3/1962

A bouncer saved Richard's life but was himself killed by a disgruntled customer

Harold’s Club

Archive Entry Date: c. 1960

Harold Parker, proud proprietor of “Harold's Club”

Now They’re Proud of Peoria

Archive Entry Date: 8/55

Feminist pioneer Betty Friedan praised World War II veterans for turning around Peoria.

Children’s Theater of Carver Center

Archive Entry Date: 3/15/55

A review of “Rumpelstiltskin,” Richard's first stage appearance.

Is it True What They Say About Peoria?

Archive Entry Date: mid-1950s

Whisper Magazine punctured Peoria's reputation as an All-American city

Eight Arrested Here in Narcotics Raid

Archive Entry Date: 4/8/1953

Richard's Uncle Dickie was netted in Peoria's first major drug sting in years

Richard on a Sixth-Grade Field Trip

Archive Entry Date: 3/1/1954

The great comedian-to-be in Springfield, next to a statue of the Great Emancipator

Ann Stepping Out On the Town

Archive Entry Date: 1950s

Richard's stepmother Ann, in a happy time and a sophisticated place

Richard’s School Record

Archive Entry Date: 1945-1955

Richard struggled to find his way through Peoria's schools

Pursuit of Freedom

Archive Entry Date: 11/1949

The mural, a mix of uplift and militancy, that faced Richard onstage at the Carver Center

Gertrude Pryor v. LeRoy Pryor

Archive Entry Date: 1/1946

The divorce papers of Richard Pryor's parents

The Pryor Family at the Famous Door

Archive Entry Date: c. 1945

The Pryor family diversified its operations, becoming proud owners of a tavern in the mid-40s

North Washington Street

Archive Entry Date: 1938

The block, in the red-light district, where Pryor was raised

Boy Slapped, Woman Routs Proprietor

Archive Entry Date: 10/20/1929

When a black boy was slapped at a candy store, Richard's grandmother struck back