Seventh annual Illinois History Conference offers archaeological sessions, past to present      

[AUG. 17, 2005]  SPRINGFIELD -- Everything from Illinois' archaeological past to the present will be covered during the seventh annual Conference on Illinois History scheduled for Oct. 27 and 28, at the Prairie Capital Convention Center in Springfield.

"This increasingly popular two-day conference is designed for anyone with an interest in history," said Robert Coomer, director of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, which sponsors the conference. "Whether you like watching The History Channel or teach college-level history, there's something here for you."

The conference schedule is available at www.Illinois-History.gov/conference.htm.  [To download Adobe Reader for the PDF file, click here.]

To register, visit the website or contact Donna Lawrence at [phone] or [e-mail].

The conference schedule, copied as is from a file sent by the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, is below.

October 29

Another history-related event, "Historic Preservation Knowledge Day," will be Oct. 29 at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library. The Illinois Association of Historic Preservation Commissions will its annual meeting.

A networking brunch begins at 10 a.m., followed by a tour of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum.

"Common Historic Building Maintenance/Care Myths that Can Beguile Landmarks Commissions" will be presented by one of the Midwest's leading authorities, David Arbogast of Iowa City. In addition, Illinois Historic Preservation Agency staff will present "the Do's and Don'ts of the Property Tax Freeze Incentive Program."

To register for the Oct. 29 Historic Preservation Knowledge Day, contact Catherine O'Connor, [phone], Catherine_O'[e-mail].

[Illinois Historic Preservation Agency news release]

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Conference schedule
(Copied as is from Illinois Historic Preservation
Agency source file)

7th Annual Conference on Illinois History
October 27 - 28, 2005, Springfield, Illinois
Sponsored by the Illinois Historic Preservation
Agency

Thursday, October 27

Concurrent sessions, 8:30 a.m. to 10:15 a.m.

LINCOLN, ILLINOIS, AND THE CRISIS OF THE 1850s
. "How Radical Were the Radicals? A New Look at the
1854 Republican Party Convention in Illinois."
. "The Mathematics of Division: Lincoln on Slavery
in the 1850s."
. "Owen Lovejoy's Political Enemies, 1852 - 1858."

THE STRUGGLE FOR INTEGRATION
. "From Exclusion to Inclusion: A Case Study of
African American Secondary Education in Danville,
Illinois, from 1900 to 1954."
. "White Flight from a Middle-Class Community:
Chatham-Avalon Park and the Myth of Middle-Class
Racial Tolerance, 1954 - 1963."

EDUCATIONAL ISSUES
. "Fixing the 'Country School Problem':
Progressive-Era Rural School Reform in Illinois."
. "The Master Plan or System of Systems: The
Emergent 'Republican' Models for Higher Education in
Illinois and California, 1960 - 1974."
. "'For the Total Child': Delinquency and Child
Guidance at the Institute for Juvenile Research, 1909
- 1949."

TEACHER WORKSHOP
. "Illinois Trails."

Concurrent sessions, 10:30 a.m. to noon

URBAN SPACE: RACE, CLASS, AND GENDER IN CHICAGO
. "Block is Beautiful: The Second Great Migration,
The Chicago Urban League and Community Development in
Chicago, 1945 - 1955."
. "Punishing the 'Welfare Queen': Surveillance and
Criminalization in Illinois State's Anti-Welfare
Fraud Initiatives."

ILLINOIS EDUCATORS
. "Almira Blanchard Morse, Founding Mother of Higher
Education in Greenville, Illinois."
. "Mr. White and the History of Public Education in
the Philippines: The Legacy of Frank Russell White
of Millburn, Illinois, 1901 - 1913."

APPROACHES TO THE IMMIGRANT EXPERIENCE
. "Grounding Local and Ethnic Church History in Time
and Place."
. "The Immigrant Experience in Illinois Literature:
Props, Pawns, and Self-Portraits."

LABOR HISTORY
. "Labor Arbitration in the Progressive Era: A View
from Chicago."
. "Prelude to Defeat: Caterpillar's Global Tracks
and the UAW Bureaucracy in the Globalization Era."


TEACHER WORKSHOP
. "A Step Back in Time: Living the Depression, an
Interdisciplinary Approach."

Lunch, noon to 1:30 p.m.

LUNCH PROGRAM

Darroch Greer, documentary film-maker and
historical researcher, will be the featured speaker.
Greer researched the casualty figures for "The Civil
War in Four Minutes," one of the exhibits in the new
Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum in Springfield.
He has written, produced, and directed documentaries
for PBS, Discovery Channel, History Channel, and VH1.
Greer will discuss the development of "The Civil War
in Four Minutes."

Concurrent sessions, 1:45 to 3:15 p.m.

CIVIL WAR STORIES
. "Perspectives and Personalities of a Community at
War: An Analysis of Illinois Civil War Fighting
Teachers."
. "The Influence of the Civil War on Northeastern
Illinois Farm Families."

THE REFORM IMPULSE
. "The Foundation and Early Work of the Chicago YMCA,
1853 - 1865."
. "Danville's 'Sin City' and Reformers' Responses,
1890 - 1920."

TEACHER WORKSHOP
. "Family History Resources at The Newberry Library
and the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library."

POETIC AND PICTORIAL INTERPRETATIONS OF ILLINOIS
. "Preaching the Gospel of Higher Vaudeville: Vachel
Lindsay's Poetic Journey from Springfield, Illinois,
Across America and Back."
. "Images of Everyday Life: Amateur Film in
Illinois."

CHICAGO MIGRATION
. "'I Hear You Calling Me.Goodby Dixie Land': The
Founding and Early Success of the Chicago Defender,
1905 - 1930."
. "The Beginnings of Chicago's American Indian
Community."

Concurrent sessions, 3:30 to 5 p.m.

NATIVE AMERICAN STUDIES
. "A Second Possible Computer Model of the Rise and
Fall of Mississippian Cahokia."
. "Potawatomi Trail of Death and Regional Historic
Trail."

COUNTY HISTORY
. "Carved in Stone: A Socio-Economic History of
Monument Cutting in Coles County, Illinois, 1850 -
1910."
. "'Earthquake Christians' and the Organist at Carl
Shelton's Funeral: Or, What You've Always Wanted to
Know About Wayne County (But Were Afraid to Ask)."

CIVIL WAR JUSTICE
. "'Such Conduct Must be Put Down': The Constable
Arrest in Civil War History."
. "The Provo and the JAG: Illinois Soldiers and
Military Justice in the Civil War."

BUILT HISTORY
. "Illinois: Leader in the Precut 'Kit' Housing
Industry, 1908 - 1951."
. "Saving the Robie House."

TEACHER WORKSHOP
. "History Fairs and State Teaching Standards."

Evening banquet, 5:30 p.m., Abraham Lincoln
Presidential Museum

BANQUET PROGRAM

The banquet speaker will be Edna Greene Medford,
Associate Professor of History at Howard University.
She is a nationally recognized scholar and frequent
lecturer on African Americans in slavery and freedom.
As a member of the Scholars Advisory Board for the
Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, she
participated in discussions for planning the museum's
content. She is also a member of the Advisory
Committee for the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial
Commission. Medford will speak on blacks'
perceptions of emancipation.

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Friday, October 28

Concurrent sessions, 8:30 to 10:15 a.m.

NINETEENTH-CENTURY POLITICAL HISTORY
. "The Chicago Lakefront's Last Frontier:
Streeterville, 1886 - 1920."
. "Maintaining Industrial Order: The Chicago Police
after the Civil War."
. "Race and Reconstruction in Illinois Politics from
1871 to 1872."

THE EVOLUTION OF PLACE
. "Abraham Lincoln's Wilderness: 'My Childhood
Home.'"
. "Culture and Leisure in St. Charles, Illinois, from
1900 - 1930."
. "Victory at Sea: The Wartime Contributions of
Naval Training Center Chicago on Navy Pier."

COAL MINING HISTORY
. "Rural Radicals: Illinois Coal Miners and the
Farmer-Labor Party."
. "A Turning Point: The Lasting Impact of the 1898
Virden Mine Riot."
. "Driscoll Scanlan: The Last Great Hope of Avoiding
the Centralia Mine Disaster."

COMPARATIVE STUDIES
. "A Historic Profile of Illinois' African American
State Legislators: Their Contributions to Illinois'
History, 1877 to Present."
. "Veterans of Illinois: A Comparative Study."

TEACHER WORKSHOP
. "Workshops at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential
Library."

Concurrent sessions, 10:30 a.m. to noon

THE FRENCH IN ILLINOIS
. "Siege at Le Rocher 1684."
. "Mont Joliet, The Sad Fate of an Ancient Historic
Landmark."

DEALING WITH COMPETITION
. "John Deere and the Battle for the 'Moline Plow.'"
. "Sparks College: All About Business."

THE POWER OF THE PRESS
. "Quincy Newspapers and the Mormon Exodus to
Illinois, 1838 - 1839."
. "Politics vs. Pennies: Chicago's Pre-fire English
Newspapers."

LINCOLN REVISITED
. "'I have done my duty as I best know and Providence
must take care of the rest': Reconsidering Mary Todd
Lincoln's Insanity Case and Robert Todd Lincoln's
Motivations Behind It."
. "Children's Biographies as History: An Analysis of
Juvenile Biographies of Abraham Lincoln."

TEACHING HISTORY IN ILLINOIS COMMUNITY COLLEGES
(Panel discussion)

Lunch, noon to 1:30 p.m.

LUNCH PROGRAM

Carl J. Ekberg, Professor Emeritus of History at
Illinois State University, is an expert on the French
in colonial Illinois. He has written the
award-winning books French Roots in the Illinois
Country: The Mississippi Frontier in Colonial Times;
Francois Valle and His World: Upper Louisiana before
Lewis and Clark; and Colonial Ste. Genevieve: An
Adventure on the Mississippi Frontier. His
presentation will be on French-ness and Indian-ness
in Illinois.

Concurrent sessions, 1:45 to 3:15 p.m.

CULTURAL HISTORY
. "The Mississippi River Festival at Southern
Illinois University, Edwardsville, 1969 - 1980."
. "Burl Icle Ivanhoe Ives: His Illinois Roots."

ILLINOIS STORIES
. "The 1975 Appointment of John Paul Stevens of
Illinois to the United States Supreme Court."
. "Champaign's Fallen Heroes."

GERMANS IN AMERICA
. "Two Young Bachelors in Alton, 1836 - 1838: Rev.
Joseph Rieger and Owen Lovejoy."
. "Frederick Hecker: From German Revolutionary to
Illinois Civil War Colonel."

ILLINOIS ARCHAEOLOGY
. "Food Storage on the Illinois Frontier."
. "Cisterns: 'Dead Water' Hardly Fit to Wash the
Backsettler's Face."

PUBLIC SCULPTURE
. "The Creation of the Abraham Lincoln Statue in
Lincoln Square, Chicago."
. "The View from Here: The Story of the George
Rogers Clark Statue in Quincy, Illinois."

Concurrent sessions, 3:30 to 5 p.m.

UNEXPECTED INTERESTS
. "Lincoln's Loyal Confidante: Eliza Caldwell
Browning."
. "Illinois Women in the Civil War - One Special
Soldier: Jennie Hodger/Albert D.J. Cashier, 19th
Illinois Infantry."

PHILANTHROPY IN ILLINOIS
. "Gail Borden, Elgin, and Condensed Milk."
. "Chauncey McCormick of Chicago: 'Democratic
Patrician.'"

CONSPIRACY AND DECEPTION
. "'The Last Act of the South': Assassination and
Conspiracy as Political Tools Following Abraham
Lincoln's Death."
. "The Spy Who Came in From the Coal Field: A
British Spy in Illinois."

LOCAL HISTORY
. "Dickson, Webster and Lincoln": The Riddle of Rock
Island City - Solved."
. "'The deep, surly misery note of maschestoes':
Cairo and the Central Mississippi River Valley."