Conference on Illinois History
held in Springfield    

[OCT. 28, 2004]  SPRINGFIELD -- The annual Conference on Illinois History is meeting today and tomorrow (Oct. 28-29) in Springfield. The conference, sponsored by the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, is accredited by the Illinois State Board of Education for certified professional development units.

The conference features sessions on Illinois topics, including Illinois Mormon history; Native Americans and the Illinois Country; crime and punishment; relocating the state capital; women in southern Illinois; reformers, culture and citizenship in Chicago; Illinois reporting; Chicago politics; Joseph Smith and the Nauvoo Legion; women's roles in early Illinois; the Chicago War Exposition of 1918; 19th-century antislavery and social justice; Illinois issues; Native American portraits; Lincoln and the ministers; Chicago cultural expressions; Illinois and the world; Emancipation and Reconstruction; public policy and designed spaces; free speech and the student movement; from market revolution to the Gilded Age; and Abraham and Mary Lincoln in memory.

Teacher workshops will address these topics: using impersonators in the classroom; uncovering the mysteries of Illinois history; Illinois maps; the changing world of local historians; developing electronic sources for student research; developing audiovisual materials for use in teaching Illinois history; and educational and volunteer opportunities at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum.

The Conference on Illinois History also features Illinois Civil War round tables; a workshop on the National Register of Historic Places; and topical local history presentations about Galesburg, Galena, Mattoon and Springfield.

The luncheon speakers today will be Robert Hartley and David Kenney, authors of "An Uncertain Tradition: U.S. Senators from Illinois, 1818 - 2003," who will present "Illinois Senators." The evening banquet speaker will be Catherine Clinton, author of "Harriet Tubman: The Road to Freedom and The Other Civil War: American Women in the Nineteenth Century."

The Friday luncheon speaker will be Timothy Samuelson, cultural historian for the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and author of "But Wait! There's More!: The Irresistible Appeal and Spiel of Ronco and Popeil." His talk will focus on the rags-to-riches story of the fascinating business whose name has become synonymous with the word "gadget."

Walk-in registration is $45. The Thursday evening banquet costs $35 and the Friday luncheon is $10.

For additional information, contact Donna Lawrence, Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, 1 Old State Capitol Plaza, Springfield, IL 62701; e-mail @ [e-mail]; or phone [phone]. More information on the conference is available at www.Illinois-History.gov.

[Illinois Historic Preservation Agency news release]

 

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