History
Much of the prairie area was annexed by the municipality of Markham, Illinois, a suburb located south of Chicago. In most of greater Chicago, annexations of this type were a precursor to real estate development. However, the prairie patch's relatively poor drainage made it less attractive to land development. Furthermore, in the years after World War II Markham became an economically troubled and relatively slow-growing community. Finally, in 1971, the Gensburg family, owners of a key 60-acre (240,000 m2) parcel at the heart of the prairie, donated the parcel to the Nature Conservancy. The prairie's current name, Gensburg-Markham Prairie, commemorates this donation.
Read more about this topic: Gensburg-Markham Prairie
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“Jesus Christ belonged to the true race of the prophets. He saw with an open eye the mystery of the soul. Drawn by its severe harmony, ravished with its beauty, he lived in it, and had his being there. Alone in all history he estimated the greatness of man.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“We have need of history in its entirety, not to fall back into it, but to see if we can escape from it.”
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—Noam Chomsky (b. 1928)