Lincoln College Recipient of Illinois State Historical Society Honor
Lincoln Heritage Museum and LCTV Recognized for “Best of Illinois History” Award

 

[February 22, 2022] 

Lincoln Heritage Museum and LCTV at Lincoln College have been selected by the Illinois State Historical Society (ISHS) for the “Best of Illinois History” award for work on the original video documentary, “Our Cause is Just,” a depiction of the Hawes family from Logan County during the Civil War.

The “Best of Illinois History” award recognizes significant and outstanding contributions to the field of history in the last year.

The video documentary is a production of students in the Lincoln College Radio, Television, and New Media Department, in cooperation with staff at the Lincoln Heritage Museum. Students Zaknafien Luken and Adam Hoffman produced and directed the original production, while Spencer David and Noah Henry served as production assistants. Lincoln College staff also assisted in the documentary.

“Our Cause Is Just” is the Civil War story of the John and Esther Hawes family from Eminence Township in Logan County near Atlanta, Illinois. The documentary is based upon letters written by brothers Henry and George Hawes and half-brother James Ewing—all three soldiers in battle—to parents John and Esther and family back home. The family in turn also wrote many letters to their sons, whose units were fighting primarily in Tennessee and Mississippi. The letters date from 1861 until after the war was completed in 1865.

Eventually, the letters were handed down to a Hawes family descendant, James Hawes. Several years ago, James and Joanne Hawes donated the collection of letters to the Lincoln Heritage Museum. There are 112 letters in the Hawes collection. Photographs of the family are also part of the collection.

“What makes these letters so fascinating is that they write candidly and vividly about the political issues of the day: Union war policy, southern secessionists, Abraham Lincoln and emancipation, as well as Lincoln’s re-election and assassination,” said Lincoln College Associate Professor Ron Keller,
screenwriter for the documentary. “Added to the letters themselves is the fact that there are Civil War photographs of both Henry and George and their parents, and an incredible amount of family history,” added Keller.

Lincoln Heritage Museum Director, Olivia Partlow, was the production supervisor for the documentary, Partlow remarked, "Our Cause is Just” tells the Hawes family’s story in a very relatable way. It makes history feel more local and reminds viewers of our rich Logan County history."

Museum staff, with the help of volunteers, chiefly Lynn Spellman and Steve Sauer, transcribed the letters over the past several years. Then, in the fall of 2020 work began towards the creation of a video to detail the story.

The documentary draws upon many of the letters, available photographic images, and a few recreations to tell the personal story, and how a local family persevered through the trials and struggles of the Civil War.

“Having the opportunity to direct and edit this documentary was a true honor,” said Zaknafein Luken, senior Radio, TV, and New Media student. “There aren’t a lot of people that would trust a young college student to take on a project like this but Ron and Olivia were nothing but supportive of me and my fellow students throughout this project. When making this documentary, I didn’t see this as another Civil War story, this was about family and what an individual would do to get back home. Between the story and the crew, “Our Cause is Just” is different from anything else,” added Luken.

The ISHS Annual "Best of Illinois History" Awards and Meeting will take place in Springfield, on April 9, 2022 at the Hoogland Center for the Arts.

The documentary can be viewed here: https://youtu.be/pNQro4UZKxA

[Lauren Grenlund]