The Rockford Anthology

Edited by Rachel León
October 21, 2025

Screw Capital of the World. Forest City. Home of the Rockford Peaches of A League of Their Own fame. Rockford, Illinois, has many identities, most oriented toward the past. Today, the fastener industry has mostly rusted away, the trees are less plentiful than they once were, and professional women’s baseball is no more. What makes Rockford Rockford today?  

According to The Rockford Anthology, it’s the people. People who grew up here, who came here by choice or by circumstance, or who decided to leave. Who lost someone here, or found a voice, or found unexpected community.

In this installment of Belt’s City Anthology series, the people of Rockford represent themselves in essays, poetry, and photographs. Here, you’ll meet the person who found the space to start a business after leaving the crowd in Chicago. Academy Award nominee Bing Liu takes you on a personal tour of his childhood houses, and the ghosts that lurk there. From stories of growing up to chronicles of fights to make the city better, a sense of Rockford’s present—and future—starts to come into focus.

6 x 9 | Paperback |