Raymond Cunningham and Molly Shoaf are the authors of a history of the Village of Homer. Volume I, From the Timber to the Prairie, covers the period from the 1820s to 1920 and was awarded the Illinois State Historical Society's Award of Superior Achievement in 2006. In addition to their work on this project, both Mr. Cunningham and Ms. Shoaf demonstrate their love for local history in other ways as well. Ms. Shoaf has been involved in many projects of the Homer Historical Society in her 20 years as an active member including transcribing, editing, and printing over 92 oral histories from tapes made by community residents and researching the historical context and writing descriptions for over 2,400 photographs. She has made her village's history available to the public by placing these and other data and artifacts on media that can be easily search and accessed. Mr. Cunningham, also a Historical Society member, was instrumental in organizing the Homer Sesquicentennial Celebration, incorporating reenactments of local historical events such as the annual "rat hunt." He is also a "hands-on" historian. He and his wife purchased the dilapidated 1891 Odd Fellows Hall and renovated it into the Homer Emporium, which offers over 350 varieties of classic sodas to customers. As Village President David Lucas puts it, Mr. Cunningham and Ms. Shoaf "have a love of history and work tirelessly to preserve and make available local history to the community."
Select Illinois Humanities Council programs are now available for listening or download at Chicago Public Media (WBEZ) as a part of Chicago Amplified, a web-based audio library of diverse public events recorded throughout the Chicago region.
