Grab a handful of Brazil nuts and a glass of buttermilk, and join us for the tale of a knock-down, drag-out election between the dictator of a small town and the citizens who want him and his cronies out of office. The 1909 election in Zion, Illinois should have been a straightforward democratic vote, but it turned into something much, much more. On this episode, we've got it all: voter suppression and oppression, a collection of con artists and their grifts, millions of dollars in stolen and misappropriated funding, Flat Earthers run amok, and how the town of Zion came to have bathtub decency written into their legislation.

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Sources:

"Zion City, Illinois: 20th Century Utopia" by P.L. Cook

"Heaven Below: Early Pentecostals and American Culture" by G. Wacker

"Flat Earth: The History of an Infamous Idea" by C. Garwood

1909-1910 issues of the Zion City Independent newspaper

1909-1910 issues of the Zion Herald newspaper

1909-1910 issues of the Lake County Independent and Waukeegan Weekly Sun newspaper

(all courtesy of the Illinois Digital Newspapers Collection hosted by the University of Illinois)

Personal interviews