Archive for August, 2008
William Herndon on Ebay
Thursday, August 28th, 2008How about another installment of Lincoln on Ebay? Up for auction this week is a signed copy of the Laws of Illinois of 1838. Not just anyone signed this copy though. William H. Herndon, Abraham Lincoln’s third and final law partner, affixed his signature not once, but twice on this book. Marginal notes, which appear to [...]
Lincoln-Douglas Celebration in Jonesboro
Tuesday, August 26th, 2008The Sesquicentennial Commemoration of the Lincoln-Douglas Debates is shaping up nicely in Jonesboro, Illinois. Organizers have passed a schedule along for us to take a look at: Friday, Sept. 12 6:00 pm: Doors open for “Dinner with the Debaters” at Great Boars of Fire, Anna. Actors will “perform” informally at bar. Dinner at 7:00 and [...]
Memorial Service on Sunday
Friday, August 22nd, 2008A Memorial Service for Professor John Y. Simon will take place this Sunday, August 24, at 1 pm at Shryock Audituorium on the Southern Illinois University campus in Carbondale, Illinois. For directions, CLICK THIS LINK and type in where you’ll be driving from. Memorials may be made to the Ulysses S. Grant Association, c/o Frank J. Williams, [...]
Lincoln’s Land: The Disappearing Prairie
Wednesday, August 20th, 2008I was digging through my filing cabinet of clipped newspaper articles when I stumbled on a piece from Springfield’s State Journal-Register, dated February 12, 2005. As the date suggests, the article was written to commemorate Abraham Lincoln’s 196th birthday. It appeared in the “Outdoors” section of the paper. For those of you unacquainted with this section, it [...]
Why Name a Town after Lincoln in 1853?
Tuesday, August 19th, 2008There is a town in Illinois named after Abraham Lincoln. Though that may not come as a shock to many of you, the circumstances surrounding the naming of Lincoln, Illinois are a bit strange. It is the only town named after Lincoln before he was elected president. In fact, the town was named after Lincoln [...]
New Semester
Monday, August 18th, 2008Today marks the beginning of a new semester. For the next four months, I will be teaching Illinois History here at Southern Illinois University. I’m really looking forward to the course. For the last two years, I’ve been writing my dissertation, Every Spot a Grave: The Poetry of Abraham Lincoln. I’m happy to say, I have completed a [...]
100 Years After the Springfield Race Riot
Thursday, August 14th, 2008Today marks the 100th anniversary of the darkest day in Springfield history. A two-day race riot ravaged Abraham Lincoln’s hometown. We’ve talked about the race riot before on this site. As I recall, the topic came up during a series of posts on Vachel Lindsay. Instead of recounting the details of the riot, I want to call [...]
Last Visit to Coles County
Monday, August 11th, 2008The Journal Gazette-Times Courier in Charleston, Illinois ran an interesting piece on Friday. The article details Abraham Lincoln’s last visit to Coles County to visit his stepmother in late January 1861. It’s worth taking a look at.
Watch C-SPAN Tonight
Saturday, August 2nd, 2008WASHINGTON – The fifth installment of C-SPAN’s “Lincoln 200 Years” programming initiative airs on Saturday, August 2 from 8 – 10 p.m. ET. (The program re-airs at 11 p.m. ET). This month, the program features two segments focusing on Lincoln and his political nemesis, Stephen Douglas: HOUSE DIVIDED SPEECH COMMEMORATION On June 16, 1858, Abraham Lincoln famously [...]
Budget Woes Hit Historic Sites
Friday, August 1st, 2008It looks like we had good reason to be worried about historic sites in Illinois. According to the State Journal-Register in Springfield, all seasonal workers at New Salem have been let go. In addition, the site will be now be closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. So what about the other historic sites in Springfield? I’m [...]