The garments on view in the Illinois State Museum's Fashioning Illinois exhibition represent just a small fraction of the Museum's collection of historical clothing. Join Curator of History Erika Holst on this behind-the-scenes tour of the Museum's textile storage area to get a sense of the true scope of the Museum's collections. 

Join Dr. Daniel Worthington, director of the Papers of Abraham Lincoln, for our next Facebook LIVE! event on Thursday, February 4 at 7pm Central time.

The Papers of Abraham Lincoln is a documentary editing project dedicated to identifying, imaging, transcribing, annotating, and publishing online all documents written by or to Abraham Lincoln during his lifetime (1809-1865).

The Civil War was a pivotal moment for African Americans. Black men and women, both enslaved and free, were among the first to recognize the war’s potential for ending slavery and immediately went to work pressuring the Union Army and Lincoln administration to transform the war into one for emancipation.

In the summer of 2019, award-winning broadcaster Alvin Hall and activist and social justice trainer Janée Woods Weber hit the road, driving 2,021 miles from Detroit to New Orleans collecting personal stories from Black Americans who used the Negro Motorist Green Book during segregation and Jim Crow to navigate trips, patronize Black-owned businesses, and create communities in the face of institutionalized racism.

The University of Illinois Springfield invites you to join us (via Zoom) for the Center for Lincoln Studies Grand Opening.

Eva Carroll Monroe and the Lincoln Colored Old Folks and Orphans Home presented by Dr. Mary Frances, Artist, Professor and Documentarian.

Walter Thomas Bailey: The First Licensed African-American Architect in the State of Illinois presented by Kent Massie, Principal Planner and Landscape Architect, Massie, Massie & Associates.

Join the Springfield and Central Illinois African American History Museum and the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum as we team up to share exciting exhibits and items from our collections that highlight the stories and achievements of African Americans in Illinois.

Carrying the Colors: The Life and Legacy of Medal of Honor Recipient Corporal Andrew Jackson Smith tells the story of a man who escaped slavery, became a Union soldier and distinguished himself with an act of bravery worthy of receiving the nation’s highest honor. However, it took the efforts of his grandson and two dedicated historians before a White House ceremony finally took place in 2001 – some 70 years after Smith’s death and nearly 140 years since the Civil War.