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Current News

Grant Opportunity for Lincoln Interpretation
Tuesday, December 17, 2024

The Abraham Lincoln National Heritage Area is offering a funding opportunity for up to $10,000 for eligible education and interpretive projects for organizations within the Abraham Lincoln National Heritage Area, also known as Looking for Lincoln.

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Harris Appointed New Board Chair
Friday, November 8, 2024

Kathryn Harris has been welcomed as the new Chair of the Looking for Lincoln Heritage Coalition, which is the coordinating entity for the Abraham Lincoln National Heritage Area.

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New traveling exhibit: Journey to Freedom: Illinois’ Underground Railroad
Thursday, September 26, 2024

Many Illinois communities and residents were part of the courageous effort to assist freedom seekers on the underground railroad in the state. A new traveling exhibit explores this history.

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Upcoming Events

Journey to Freedom: Illinois' Underground Railroad Video Project
Wednesday, February 19, 2025 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM

The Journey to Freedom: Illinois' Underground Railroad video project looks at the lives of five individuals involved in the Underground Railroad.  Each narrative is a first-person account of freedom seekers or conductors based on newspapers, personal accounts and secondary sources.  The accounts include William Donnegan (Conductor), Susan Richardson (Freedom Seeker), John Hossack (Conductor), George Burroughs (Conductor) and Eliza Little (Freedom Seeker).  These individuals were selected to highlight black agency in the Underground Railroad,  highlight the types of individuals who were involved in the Underground Railroad and were from various geographical areas.  Join us to watch the videos and learn more about why these individuals were selected and a little more about their lives.

Heather Feezor is the Program Manager for Looking for Lincoln and has worked for the organization for over 10 years.  She recently oversaw the creation of the new travelling exhibit about the Underground Railroad in Illinois and assisted in developing programming to complement the exhibit.  She has her M.A. in Public History from the Univeristy of Illinois at Springfield.  

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The Presumption of Freedom: The Illinois Supreme Court and the Fate of Slavery in Illinois
Wednesday, May 21, 2025 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM

Though Illinois entered the Union as a free state in 1818, slavery continued to exist within its borders for decades. Freedom seekers, abolitionists, and pro-slavery forces turned to the judicial system to determine the fate of slavery in Illinois. This talk will highlight several of the nearly two dozen slave cases that reached the Illinois Supreme Court and examine the Court’s role in ending slavery in the Prairie State.

John Lupton, Executive Director, Illinois Supreme Court Historic Preservation Commission. Samuel Wheeler, Director of History Programs, Illinois Supreme Court Historic Preservation Commission.

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Regional Highlight

Abraham Lincoln started his political career in 1834 as an Illinois state legislator in Vandalia, Illinois. The community of Vandalia was the Illinois State Capitol from 1820-1839. Lincoln would spend eight years in the state legislature and eventually vote to move the state capitol to Springfield, Illinois.

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