Tickets now available for Illinois history conference Sept. 26-27

[August 10, 2013]  SPRINGFIELD -- Tickets are now available for a conference exploring Illinois' rich history, from slavery to Ernest Hemingway to a shocking presidential election.

The 15th annual Conference on Illinois History is scheduled for Sept. 26-27 at Springfield's Prairie Capital Convention Center and the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum.

There will be three featured speakers -- Robert Hartley, Suzanne Cooper Guasco and Mark Pohlad -- and sessions covering topics such as 17th-century exploration, Latino history, Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War.

Hartley's recent book "Battleground 1948: Truman, Stevenson, Douglas, and the Most Surprising Election in Illinois History" analyzes Illinois' role in the 1948 presidential election, which produced one of America's greatest political upsets.

Guasco, author of "Edward Coles and the Rise of Antislavery Politics in Nineteenth-Century America," will discuss the second governor of Illinois and his role in the mounting debate against slavery.

While Abraham Lincoln is mostly associated with central Illinois, Pohlad will use photography to examine Lincoln's connections with Chicago. Pohlad is associate professor of art history and associate dean of liberal studies at DePaul University.

Tickets for the conference are now on sale at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum website, www.presidentlincoln.illinois.gov. To register, click on "Special event tickets and reservations." The price is $90 to attend both days and $50 for a single day, although students can attend the full conference for just $40.

A detailed schedule (PDF) is available at www.illinoishistory.gov/conference.htm.

The conference is sponsored by the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency and the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation.

[Text from file received from the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency]