Originally appeared in the Fall 2020 Gazette, by Charles Shabica When Hitler invaded Poland in 1939, war to an American was the “War in Europe.” It wasn’t until the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 that President Roosevelt (FDR) committed us to that same war (“A date which will live in infamy,” he […]
Tag Archives: Charles Shabica
Getting to Know Winnetka’s Own Science Guy
Categories: Gazette
An interview with WHS Board President Charlie Shabica By Sally Schneiders It all started just prior to a recent Winnetka Historical Society board meeting when Charlie Shabica plunked down on the table a replica of a Tully Monster, an antique flintlock pistol and a seventeenth century silver Spanish dollar. Charlie passed each artifact around so […]
Winnetka’s Changing Lakeshore
Categories: Gazette
Gazette Article by: Charles W. Shabica, Ph.D. Appeared in the Gazette: Summer 1999 100 year battle with beach erosion One hundred years ago, shipping on the Great Lakes was the primary mode of interstate transportation in the Midwest. On the North Shore, sailing vessels carrying passengers, coal, lumber, and even Christmas trees routinely put in […]
Lakefront Issues – Present and Future
Categories: Gazette
Gazette Article by: Charles W. Shabica, Ph.D. Appeared in the Gazette: Fall 1999 Living on the Illinois shore of Lake Michigan in a community like Winnetka has great advantages tempered by a few – but important – problems. Since the mid-to-late 19th century, scientists and engineers have faced the challenge of balancing the need for […]
Stable Beaches in Winnetka
Categories: Gazette
Gazette Article by: Charles W. Shabica, Ph.D. and Dana Vale Shabica Appeared in the Gazette: Winter 1999 How to Pay for Them In the last three issues of the Gazette, the history and development of the Winnetka lakefront were presented in the context of regional coastal evolution. Scientists and engineers have shown that, unlike the […]
Winnetka’s Geological History
Categories: Gazette
Gazette Article by: Charles W. Shabica, Ph.D. Appeared in the Gazette: Spring 1999 *Tracing Our Changing Lakeshore* During the past 14,500 years as the Laurentide ice sheet receded from the Great Lakes Basin, the surface of Lake Michigan fluctuated between 45 feet higher and 200 feet lower than today. These extremes were caused by glacial […]
Swamp Secrets: The Natural and Unnatural Evolution of the Skokie Lagoons
Categories: Gazette
Gazette Article by: Dr. Charles Shabica Appeared in the Gazette: Fall/Winter 2012 The Skokie Lagoons are a nature preserve on the Skokie River that extends from Glencoe to Winnetka and is owned and managed by the Forest Preserve District of Cook County (FPDCC). Within the system are seven inter-connected lagoons totaling 190 acres that are […]
Zebra Mussels in Lake Michigan
Categories: Gazette
Gazette Article by: Barbara Joyce Appeared in the Gazette: Summer 1996 The water at the beach has become so clear that bathers can wade in up to their necks and, looking down, still count their toes. To the delight of swimmers, Lake Michigan is cleaner now than at any time in this century. But biologists […]
Lake Michigan Mysteries
Categories: Gazette
Gazette Article by: Barbara Joyce Appeared in the Gazette: Summer 1995 Local Expert Searches for Understanding How many Winnetkans, walking along the shores of local beaches, know the following facts about Lake Michigan? – There is an “underground forest” of oak, ash and hickory tree stumps submerged 15 miles off Chicago’s coast. – The lake […]