Illinois Heritage

On May 4, an ISHS historical marker will be dedicated at the site of the LeTourneau steel house. The restoration of the LeTourneau steel house was a cooperative project involving the Central Illinois Landmarks Foundation, the Peoria Historical Society and Wheels O’ Time Museum. 

Join us for a celebration of Illinois history and the people that help tell the story of the Prairie State. Dinner and awards banquet in Menard County, Illinois, home of the New Salem State Historic Site. 

Bill Kemp, archivist and librarian at the McLean County Museum of History, will explore the Three-I professional baseball league (Illinois-Indiana-Iowa League) and how it shaped the history of professional sports in the Midwest from 1920-1940.

Dr. John Hallwas, award-winning author and editor of more than two dozen books related to Illinois history and literature, and professor emeritus of English at Western Illinois University, will present "Forgotten Voices: Six Illinois Authors You Need to Know".

In celebration of Irish heritage in Illinois, Dr. Eileen McMahon, professor and chair of the History program at Lewis University, will discuss her research on the parish communities found along the Illinois & Michigan Canal, and the Irish immigrants who built this vital passageway.

Dr. Theodore Karamanski, professor of History and Public History Director at Loyola University Chicago, will present on the Irish in the Civil War. Live music by ​Wild Columbine.

Guy Fraker, J.D., retired attorney, author, and Lincoln historian, will discuss Abraham Lincoln's 20-plus year career as a lawyer and part-time judge on the 8th judicial circuit.

Kathryn Harris, immediate past president of the Abraham Lincoln Association, and former director of library services at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library, will present a first-person portrayal of Elizabeth Keckley, former slave and Mary Lincoln's trusted friend and modiste, who later wrote about her White House years.