European Languages and Societies Commons^™

Two Swiss Of Peoria, Illinois, Marianne Burkhard

Swiss American Historical Society Review

In 1891, when he was 13, Emil Locher found himself transplanted to Peoria, Illinois, and faced with the necessity to help his mother and two siblings survive. His story gives some insight into working possibilities and conditions at the end of the last century. Without much schooling and without any professional training Emil Locher made his way up from a seasonal worker to the successful owner of a produce company without ever forgetting his poor childhood in Switzerland and the difficulties poor people have to face.