Museum dedicated to late Illinois congressman reopens

MARION, Ill. (AP) - A museum dedicated to a late congressman credited with bringing billions of federal dollars to southern Illinois is back open.

The (Carbondale) Southern Illinoisan reports (http://bit.ly/1M9tPDg ) the wife of former U.S. Rep. Ken Gray reopened it at the end of September. The Ken Gray Presidential Museum is in Marion's Illinois Centre Star Mall.

The Democrat was nicknamed the "Prince of Pork" for the $7 billion he helped draw to his district. The 89-year-old died last year after a long illness.

The museum that first opened in 2010 features presidential and other memorabilia. His wife, the Rev. Margaret Holley-Gray, closed it for about six months after having to care for her husband and an ailing daughter. She calls the museum "an asset" to the mall and to the people of southern Illinois.

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Information from: Southern Illinoisan, http://www.southernillinoisan.com