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 The series is presented by the
Academy of Lifelong Learning at Lincoln Land Community College in
Springfield in collaboration with the Illinois State Museum, and it
will feature several Road Scholar Speakers offered by Illinois
Humanities.
The first program in the series is a presentation by Illinois State
Historian Dr. Samuel Wheeler to be held at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 18
in the Thorne Deuel Auditorium at the Illinois State Museum, 502 S.
Spring St. in downtown Springfield. The program is free and open to
the public. Reservations are not required.
Dr. Wheeler’s topic – “Two Centuries to Celebrate: Illinois at the
Bicentennial” – will focus on the ways our state has celebrated
milestone anniversaries from statehood in 1818 through the
centennial in 1918, as well as the sesquicentennial in 1968. Dr.
Wheeler will discuss the ongoing bicentennial celebration plans and
will help us remember what makes our state unique, which events are
truly worthy of celebration, and the many Illinoisans who are worthy
of admiration.
Dr. Samuel Wheeler is the 10th State Historian in Illinois history.
He specializes in the history of the Prairie State, the Civil War
Era, and the life and legacy of Abraham Lincoln. He has devoted much
of his professional career to the field of Public History, assisting
museums, historic sites, historical societies, documentary editing
projects, libraries, and archives, helping them execute their
missions effectively and efficiently. As the Illinois State
Historian, Dr. Wheeler serves as the Director of Research,
Collections, and Library Services at the Abraham Lincoln
Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, is the historian of
record for the state's 56 historic sites, and is a member of the
state's Bicentennial Commission.
Other programs in the special Illinois Bicentennial Series will
examine Native American settlements, the establishment of early
government, the role of transportation in binding the state
together, the anti-slavery movement, the roles of entrepreneurs and
employees, the prairie and agricultural growth, and art and
literature. The lecture series will conclude with a special musical
presentation of the music that has been part of our history during
200 years of statehood.
For more information, please call the Illinois State Museum at (217)
782-0979, or the Academy of Lifelong Learning at Lincoln Land
Community College at (217) 786-2477.
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Dr. Sam Wheeler Biography
Dr. Samuel Wheeler is the 10th State Historian in Illinois History. He
specializes in the history of the Prairie State, the Civil War Era, and the life
and legacy of Abraham Lincoln. He has devoted much of his professional career to
the field of Public History assisting museums, historic sites, historical
societies, documentary editing projects, libraries, and archives, helping them
execute their missions effectively and efficiently. As the Illinois State
Historian, Dr. Wheeler serves as the Director of Research, Collections, and
Library Services at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in
Springfield, is the historian of record for the state's 56 historic sites, and
is a member of the state's Bicentennial Commission.
The Culture and Heritage of Illinoisans Bicentennial Series
Feb. 18
“Two Centuries to Celebrate:
Illinois at the Bicentennial”
Dr. Samuel Wheeler, Springfield
March 18
“This Land Was Your Land:
Native Americans, Globalization and Treaties”
Dr. Michael Wiant,
Petersburg
April 15
“Becoming A State: The Illinois Way” Tara McClellan McAndrew,
Springfield
May 20
“Binding Our State Together: Canals, Railroads, Postal Services and Roads”
Dr. Norman Moline,
Rock Island
June 17
“Illinois Antislavery and the Struggle For Freedom”
Jeanne Schulz Angel
Chicago
July 15
“Building Illinois: Entrepreneurialism Flourishes, Workers Rise”
Mike Matejka
Bloomington
Aug. 19
“Farming in the Great Corn Belt: 200 Years of Challenges, Choices & Changes”
Don Meyer
Lexington
Sept. 16
“Illinois in Art & Literature, 1818 to 2017”
Laura Mueller
Burbank
Oct. 21
“From Prairie to Farm to City: Music to Commemorate Illinois’s Bicentennial”
Phil Passen
Chicago
[Illinois Department of Natural
Resources] |
