Education will be a major theme of the Illinois State Historical
Society s 27th Annual Illinois History Symposium, held in Illinois State
University s Bone Student Center, Thursday through Saturday, Feb. 15-17. The
symposium, Knowledge on the Prairie, is being held in conjunction with the
University s 150th anniversary celebration, which kicks off on Founders Day,
Feb. 15.
Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and biographer David McCullough will be a featured speaker on Thursday, Feb. 15, at 1 p.m. in Braden Auditorium. McCullough will speak on Leadership and the History You Don t Know. John Freed, University Distinguished Professor Emeritus of History, will deliver the plenary address, The Founding of Illinois State Normal University: Normal School or State University? at 11 a.m. that day in the Prairie Room.
The symposium will also include presentations on history education, education in Illinois, the history of Illinois State University, frontier Illinois, the Civil War and historic preservation. On Friday, Feb.16, Douglas Wilson, co-director of the Lincoln Studies Center at Knox College, will deliver the keynote address, President Lincoln s Hidden Asset, at the Symposium Banquet at 6:30 p.m.
The symposium sessions are free and open to the public, however, all participants must register for the event by Feb. 9. Tickets for the Symposium Banquet on Feb. 16 are $35 per person. For more information on symposium sessions, or to register, phone the Illinois State Historical Society at (217) 525-2781, or visit www.historyillinois.org
As part of the symposium, the Illinois History Video Fair will be held in the Bone Student Center Circus Room on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 16-17. The event will feature documentaries on topics such as the Illinois and Michigan Canal, Lincoln and the Black Hawk War, reconstruction work at the Fort Massac historic site and labor organizer Mother Jones.
The Illinois State Historical Society is delighted to participate in the Illinois State University s 150th anniversary by bringing its annual Illinois History Symposium to the campus, said William Furry, the Society s executive director. This is the first time in the symposium's 27-year history that it has been held outside of Springfield. The move is a logistical challenge but the opportunities presented to us are extraordinary. Illinois State has opened its doors and made us feel welcome. Our membership, which includes professional historians, teachers and students, scholars and amateurs, looks forward to visiting Illinois State s vibrant campus and sharing in the Founders Day events, especially the opportunity to hear Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David McCullough.
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