Lunch & Learn: The Wizard of Oz in Illinois and Beyond
Date & Time
Thursday, November 13, 2025
12:10 pm - 1:00 pm
Cost
Free, in person and online at youtube.com/mchistorymuseum.
Phone
309-827-0428
Bring your lunch and join us to learn about the Wizard of Oz’s connection to McLean County and Illinois on Thursday, November 13, from 12:10vto 1:00 p.m. with Decatur historian Mark W. Sorensen.
Sorensen will give an illustrated presentation about how L. Frank Baum came to Chicago in 1891 and 125 years ago wrote the children’s Book-of-the-Year, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Thinking it a one-time effort, demands from children across the country convinced him and later “Royal Historians of Oz” to keep writing until there eventually were officially 40 Oz-related books.
Sorensen will explain how the first Oz book was quickly turned into a Broadway musical before the fan-favorite 1939 MGM technicolor film starring Judy Garland.
He will highlight Bloomington’s connection as being the final resting place of Dorothy Gage, whom Baum family lore states is the namesake of the character “Dorothy” in the book.
Sorensen was named an “Illinois Library Luminary” and has received the Illinois State Historical Society’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
Sorensen will give an illustrated presentation about how L. Frank Baum came to Chicago in 1891 and 125 years ago wrote the children’s Book-of-the-Year, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Thinking it a one-time effort, demands from children across the country convinced him and later “Royal Historians of Oz” to keep writing until there eventually were officially 40 Oz-related books.
Sorensen will explain how the first Oz book was quickly turned into a Broadway musical before the fan-favorite 1939 MGM technicolor film starring Judy Garland.
He will highlight Bloomington’s connection as being the final resting place of Dorothy Gage, whom Baum family lore states is the namesake of the character “Dorothy” in the book.
Sorensen was named an “Illinois Library Luminary” and has received the Illinois State Historical Society’s Lifetime Achievement Award.