Prehn

This collection contains correspondence, photographs, blueprints, business records, and newspaper clippings dealing with the personal and business life of Harold W. Prehn, a prominent Springfield businessman and active citizen in the community during the mid-20th century. Prehn owned and operated a Dodge-Plymouth dealership in Springfield, his company built the first Howard Johnson's in Springfield, the Lincoln-Douglas Estates Condominiums, and the Everett Dirksen Nursing Home in addition to many other projects. In his equally prominent civic life, Prehn served as chairman of the Illinois Office of Defense Mobilization, the president of the Illinois State War Fund during WWII and later became an assistant commissioner for the Federal Housing Authority. Also included in the collection is material on the Harold Prehn Foundation Scholarship, which awarded five underprivileged students a year scholarship for college.