Midwest Archives Conference in Bloomington to feature tours of David Davis Mansion         

[APRIL 5, 2006]  BLOOMINGTON -- The top museum, archive and special collections people from the central United States will gather in Bloomington for the Midwest Archives Conference, scheduled for April 27-29. Some sessions are open to the public, and tours of the David Davis Mansion State Historic Site in Bloomington will be one highlight of the conference.

The conference at the Chateau Hotel, "MAC in Bloom," is the one event a year that combines the workshops, tours, sessions and networking events that have built group's reputation as a leader among history and records professional organizations nationwide. Pulitzer Prize-winning author Leon Dash will address the conference's plenary session. Participants can take a special tour of the David Davis Mansion the evening of April 27 or the morning of April 28. The tour will introduce them to the fully restored, 1872 Victorian masterpiece that was the home of U.S. Supreme Court Justice David Davis and his wife, Sarah. A tour of the new Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield is also scheduled, as are sessions about oral histories, preserving scrapbooks and preserving the history of Midwestern Latinos.

Conference information is available at www.midwestarchives.org/illinois. Anyone interested in attending all or part of the conference must register by April 3 (postmark date). The registration form in the program booklet can be downloaded from the Web.

The David Davis Mansion is administered by the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency and is located at 1000 E. Monroe in Bloomington. It is open Wednesday through Sunday for free public tours.

[Illinois Historic Preservation Agency news release]