D. Leigh Henson named to District 27 'Distinguished Alumni'
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[April
23, 2013]
D. Leigh Henson's name is
well-known around Lincoln. He is the developer of the award-winning website
findinglincolnillinois.com.
The website is a community history of the first Lincoln namesake town and is
titled Mr. Lincoln, Route 66, and Other Highlights of Lincoln, Illinois. Dr.
Henson began this website in 2003 and was awarded the "Best Web Site of the
Year" by the Illinois State Historical Society in 2004. |
Henson was born in Lincoln in 1942. He
attended kindergarten at Central School, grades one through six at
Jefferson School, and grades seven and eight at Central School, from
which he graduated in 1956. After graduating from Lincoln Community
High School, he attended Lincoln College for his freshman year. He
graduated from Illinois State University, majoring in English with a
minor in history. He earned his master's degree in American
literature and a Ph.D. in English studies from Illinois State
University.
Before his
retirement, Dr. Henson was professor of English at Missouri State
University and now serves as Professor Emeritus of English.
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He has published many articles. In
2012 he was given the Award of Superior Achievement by the Illinois
State Historical Society for his book, "The Town Lincoln Warned: The
Living Namesake Heritage of Lincoln, Illinois."
Besides writing extensively about
Abraham Lincoln and Lincoln, Ill., Henson has written several
articles about another well-known Lincoln native, author William
Maxwell.
Henson is currently working on a
long-range plan to promote Lincoln, Ill., as a Lincoln-heritage
community by increasing civic pride and adding tourist appeal to the
city. His proposal is to erect four new Lincoln statues here, which
would give the city a total of 11, second in number only to
Springfield, Ill.
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