EDWARDSVILLE - Roland Harris, of Highland, has been collecting and sharing the history of eastern Madison County all his life. In recognition of his work, on Thursday he was awarded the “Best of Illinois History” Lifetime Achievement Award. It was presented at the Highland Home Museum on his 95th birthday.
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The award is given to a select few each year by the Illinois State Historical Society (ISHS) to recognize an individual’s contributions toward promoting, preserving, and protecting Prairie State history within their community. His accomplishments, in brief, include 70 years of collecting memorabilia of eastern Madison County communities, especially Highland. He opened the Highland Home Museum in 2016 at the Highland Home where he and his wife now live. The museum has over 7,000 artifacts and is normally open by appointment but is now temporarily closed due to COVID-19. For 40 years, he has written a weekly column of local history for the Highland News Leader, that’s more than 2,000 columns. In addition, he helped organize the Highland Historical Society, worked to restore several local cemeteries, and serves as a guide at the Latzer Homestead, sometimes appearing as Louis Latzer himself. His generosity in helping others researching Highland area history is legendary.
Early this spring, recognizing Harris’s work, the Madison County Historical Society nominated him for the prestigious award. He was originally invited to receive the it at the annual ISHS Best of Illinois History Awards Gala, in Springfield, where the organization would have celebrated his contributions to Illinois history. Although the ceremony was postponed, then cancelled, due to COVID-19, the handsome award made a very nice 95th birthday present.
The award was presented by Cindy Reinhardt, a member of the board of both the Illinois State Historical Society and the Madison County Historical Society.
