The Illinois Digital Newspaper Collections (IDNC) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has recently added digitized issues of the Chanute Field Wings paper to their website from 1941 to 1946. The Chanute Field Wings newspaper was created for the community who lived on and around the Chanute Air Force Base in Rantoul, Illinois. Chanute Air Force Base was opened in 1917, and served as an active air force training center for 76 years, until the base’s closure in 1993. Thousands of servicemen and women were trained or stationed there. The base was an economic foundation for the village of Rantoul and the region, providing many jobs.
Chanute Field Wings gave a unique glimpse into military and civilian life on the base and was in print from 1941 to 1972. Other newspapers for the base existed before and after, but Chanute Field Wings was the longest running of the papers. Chanute Field Wings covers critical years in Chanute’s history, during World War II. The paper covers all aspects of on base life in its weekly issues, from construction projects, to sports, activities, and entertainment for the people training there. It also covers international military news and some national news.
Issues currently available through the IDNC are:
Keep an eye out for more issues that will become available in 2026.
-Sara Bennett
Archives Librarian