Sheila Ryan
@sheilar.bsky.social
World weary. Public historian toiling at the intersection of education and the hospitality industry.
French bathroom and bedroom of "the Revolutionary Period." Thorne Rooms. Art Institute of Chicago.
October 30, 2025 at 10:44 PM
French bathroom and bedroom of "the Revolutionary Period." Thorne Rooms. Art Institute of Chicago.
My vision of Springfield, Illinois years before I could have dreamed I'd live in Springfield, Illinois.
September 6, 2025 at 12:01 AM
My vision of Springfield, Illinois years before I could have dreamed I'd live in Springfield, Illinois.
Reposted by Sheila Ryan
If you’re close to Quincy, Illinois, I will be there this Thursday. I’d love to see you!
July 31st from 5-7 at the Machinists Lodge #822
July 31st from 5-7 at the Machinists Lodge #822
July 27, 2025 at 10:44 PM
If you’re close to Quincy, Illinois, I will be there this Thursday. I’d love to see you!
July 31st from 5-7 at the Machinists Lodge #822
July 31st from 5-7 at the Machinists Lodge #822
Trump's latest cologne line: "Ain't nothing more powerful than the odor of mendacity."
youtu.be/B_QMuWFwOPI?...
youtu.be/B_QMuWFwOPI?...
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof — "Mendacity"
YouTube video by Moist Cut
youtu.be
July 1, 2025 at 1:41 AM
Trump's latest cologne line: "Ain't nothing more powerful than the odor of mendacity."
youtu.be/B_QMuWFwOPI?...
youtu.be/B_QMuWFwOPI?...
Post-No Kings cocktail hour.
June 14, 2025 at 7:47 PM
Post-No Kings cocktail hour.
Topping Oregon's state capitol building is a shirtless pioneer guy in tight pants. He wields an ax and is very, very shiny. Salem, Oregon. May 2025.
May 31, 2025 at 3:47 PM
Topping Oregon's state capitol building is a shirtless pioneer guy in tight pants. He wields an ax and is very, very shiny. Salem, Oregon. May 2025.
I work in Springfield for the Illinois state agency that owns and manages historic sites. If a visitor so much as offers me a $5 tip for a site tour or walking tour, I may not accept the gift.
May 12, 2025 at 4:15 AM
I work in Springfield for the Illinois state agency that owns and manages historic sites. If a visitor so much as offers me a $5 tip for a site tour or walking tour, I may not accept the gift.
Reposted by Sheila Ryan
Dr Carla Hayden, our Librarian of Congress that Trump summarily fired today is a great librarian, a great public servant and we have been lucky to have her.
May 9, 2025 at 1:22 AM
Dr Carla Hayden, our Librarian of Congress that Trump summarily fired today is a great librarian, a great public servant and we have been lucky to have her.
The *comments* on this are *the most Chicago comments ever*. I'm laughing tears.
May 8, 2025 at 11:51 PM
The *comments* on this are *the most Chicago comments ever*. I'm laughing tears.
On her visit to Springfield, Illinois, to rail against our sanctuary cities, Secretary Noem exploited the still-raw memory of a murdered community activist, Emma Shafer.
capitolfax.com/2025/05/07/e...
capitolfax.com/2025/05/07/e...
Capitol Fax.com - Your Illinois News Radar » Emma Shafer’s memory used by Secretary Noem to buttress argument on Illinois lawsCapitolFax.com
capitolfax.com
May 7, 2025 at 8:34 PM
On her visit to Springfield, Illinois, to rail against our sanctuary cities, Secretary Noem exploited the still-raw memory of a murdered community activist, Emma Shafer.
capitolfax.com/2025/05/07/e...
capitolfax.com/2025/05/07/e...
Hands Off rally at State Capitol building, Springfield, Illinois. April 19, 2025.
April 19, 2025 at 8:10 PM
Hands Off rally at State Capitol building, Springfield, Illinois. April 19, 2025.
Reposted by Sheila Ryan
NEW: ALA is going to court to stop the President’s attempts to illegally dismantle the Institute of Museum & Library Services.
The President does not have the authority to destroy a federal agency. That's why we're taking action with our co-plaintiff @afscme.bsky.social. #ForOurLibraries (1/3)
The President does not have the authority to destroy a federal agency. That's why we're taking action with our co-plaintiff @afscme.bsky.social. #ForOurLibraries (1/3)
April 8, 2025 at 1:57 AM
NEW: ALA is going to court to stop the President’s attempts to illegally dismantle the Institute of Museum & Library Services.
The President does not have the authority to destroy a federal agency. That's why we're taking action with our co-plaintiff @afscme.bsky.social. #ForOurLibraries (1/3)
The President does not have the authority to destroy a federal agency. That's why we're taking action with our co-plaintiff @afscme.bsky.social. #ForOurLibraries (1/3)
Reposted by Sheila Ryan
Journalists: you cannot deport U.S. citizens out of their own country. Do not simply regurgitate the words of the administration if those words are inaccurate. To do so is spreading disinformation. Deportation, according to the govt itself, is for people with no legal right to be here.
April 9, 2025 at 12:04 PM
Journalists: you cannot deport U.S. citizens out of their own country. Do not simply regurgitate the words of the administration if those words are inaccurate. To do so is spreading disinformation. Deportation, according to the govt itself, is for people with no legal right to be here.
My neighborhood tea room!
Let’s call these tariffs what they are: Trump’s Tax on Working Families.
Hardworking small businesses like Whimsy Tea Company in Springfield are paying the price for his chaos.
I'll continue working with our trading partners to support our state with everything I’ve got.
Hardworking small businesses like Whimsy Tea Company in Springfield are paying the price for his chaos.
I'll continue working with our trading partners to support our state with everything I’ve got.
April 9, 2025 at 12:05 AM
My neighborhood tea room!
This Saturday, April 5. At Lincoln's statue. Illinois State Capitol.
events.pol-rev.com/events/b2b73...
events.pol-rev.com/events/b2b73...
events.pol-rev.com
April 3, 2025 at 9:45 PM
This Saturday, April 5. At Lincoln's statue. Illinois State Capitol.
events.pol-rev.com/events/b2b73...
events.pol-rev.com/events/b2b73...
Lonnie Bunch explains Executive Orders. They are not laws.
NEW: Internal staff email from Smithsonian secretary Lonnie Bunch addressing Trump’s executive order.
“As always, our work will be shaped by the best scholarship, free of partisanship, to help the American public better understand our nation’s history, challenges and trumphs.”
“As always, our work will be shaped by the best scholarship, free of partisanship, to help the American public better understand our nation’s history, challenges and trumphs.”
March 30, 2025 at 11:31 PM
Lonnie Bunch explains Executive Orders. They are not laws.
Reposted by Sheila Ryan
Perfect description of why so many historians in particular are hostile to AI
This made me cheer. It gets directly at a problem I’ve often noticed: people don’t fundamentally understand what a historian *does*.
March 22, 2025 at 8:45 PM
Perfect description of why so many historians in particular are hostile to AI
Reposted by Sheila Ryan
You youngsters wouldn't know this. But: phone people for Soc Sec admin are actually *great.*
My wife has been dealing w them before/after death of her mother, at 102. Entirely diff from AI-based, phone-tree-maze, outsourced hell of airline/insurance/warranty phone "support." Informed + competent.
My wife has been dealing w them before/after death of her mother, at 102. Entirely diff from AI-based, phone-tree-maze, outsourced hell of airline/insurance/warranty phone "support." Informed + competent.
So it appears DOGE has decreed that Social Security administration will no longer provide phone support. At all. This is in addition to shutting down a ton of local SSA offices. www.axios.com/2025/03/17/s...
Leaked memo: DOGE plots to cut Social Security phone support
Changes could break the system, former officials say.
www.axios.com
March 18, 2025 at 12:38 AM
You youngsters wouldn't know this. But: phone people for Soc Sec admin are actually *great.*
My wife has been dealing w them before/after death of her mother, at 102. Entirely diff from AI-based, phone-tree-maze, outsourced hell of airline/insurance/warranty phone "support." Informed + competent.
My wife has been dealing w them before/after death of her mother, at 102. Entirely diff from AI-based, phone-tree-maze, outsourced hell of airline/insurance/warranty phone "support." Informed + competent.
Reposted by Sheila Ryan
That the origin of a lot of these gangs is with refugees from US-backed dirty wars in Central America, who picked up gang culture/adopted it for protection in the US makes the portrayal of many of these gangs as foreign/alien/outsider a lie or a denial.
“He said that the inmates would perform forced labor for at least a year, possibly more, and that the “United States will pay a very low fee for them.””
wapo.st/3FyX8aZ
wapo.st/3FyX8aZ
Trump sends more than 200 alleged gang members to prison in El Salvador
The administration won’t identify those moved — or say whether the Alien Enemies Act, which briefly sped up some deportations, played any role.
wapo.st
March 16, 2025 at 10:11 PM
That the origin of a lot of these gangs is with refugees from US-backed dirty wars in Central America, who picked up gang culture/adopted it for protection in the US makes the portrayal of many of these gangs as foreign/alien/outsider a lie or a denial.
Reposted by Sheila Ryan
AltLofC's thread here has a script to send your reps regarding the elimination of IMLS.
The ONLY reason to get rid of IMLS - which utilizes only .003% of the federal budget - is to erase knowledge & history. The regime is limiting access to this by harming our library systems, which many rely on.
The ONLY reason to get rid of IMLS - which utilizes only .003% of the federal budget - is to erase knowledge & history. The regime is limiting access to this by harming our library systems, which many rely on.
Subject: Urgent: Protect Library and Museum Funding — Oppose Elimination of IMLS
March 16, 2025 at 8:42 PM
AltLofC's thread here has a script to send your reps regarding the elimination of IMLS.
The ONLY reason to get rid of IMLS - which utilizes only .003% of the federal budget - is to erase knowledge & history. The regime is limiting access to this by harming our library systems, which many rely on.
The ONLY reason to get rid of IMLS - which utilizes only .003% of the federal budget - is to erase knowledge & history. The regime is limiting access to this by harming our library systems, which many rely on.
Reposted by Sheila Ryan
Some great words of wisdom.
March 16, 2025 at 5:24 PM
Some great words of wisdom.
Reposted by Sheila Ryan
Arlington Cemetery removed them from their maps of gravesites. This is to disrespectful of our heroes that fought for our freedom.
The Defense Dept has deleted references to Black, Hispanic & female service members as well as topics such as the Civil War from its website in order to remove all references to diversity, equity, & inclusion.
Sgt William H. Carney, a former slave, is the first black man to get the Medal of Honor.
Sgt William H. Carney, a former slave, is the first black man to get the Medal of Honor.
March 14, 2025 at 8:47 PM
Arlington Cemetery removed them from their maps of gravesites. This is to disrespectful of our heroes that fought for our freedom.
Reposted by Sheila Ryan
Thank you, Governor.
March 14, 2025 at 2:27 PM
Thank you, Governor.