Illinois Heritage

Nine months into the state's bicentennial year, the Illinois State Historical Society continues to make the commemoration as memorable as possible. So far this year we have placed or scheduled 71 Lincoln portraits in county courthouses around the state; eight historical marker dedications will be carried out between now and October 30; the Society's 2018 Centennial Awards will handed out on Saturday, November 3 at the newly restored Illinois Governor's Mansion, and our 2018 Illinois History Symposium is scheduled for December 3.

The Illinois Heritage magazine gives our members and friends a chance to share their deep passion for Prairie State history. This issue includes article from contributors all across the state: Herbert Russell from Carbondale; Kathleen Spaltro from Woodstock; Mark Flotow from Springfield; John Hallwas from Macomb; Reg Ankrom from Quincy; Will Shannon from Belleville; and Keith Sculle from Williamsville and Steve Leonard from Rochester. Each article will bring you closer to the essence of Illinois and, perhaps, stoke your own creative fires.

Thank you for reading Illinois Heritage. Your membership and gifts keep this organization vital and relevant. We cannot serve Illinois history without you. 

David Joens serves as guest editor of this issue of Illinois Heritage. His gifts of enthusiasm, professionalism, and passion for the history of our Prairie State––and most  especially his love of the architectural wonders of our Illinois statehouse––make him a splendid guide. To accomplish his task he has enlisted the help of John Lupton, director of the Illinois Supreme Court Historical Society; Mark Sorensen, past ISHS president and ex officio historian of the capitol; and illustrator William Crook Jr., who has shared one of his exquisite watercolor/pen and ink portraits of the statehouse for our cover. David also tells the story of a twelve-year collaboration between the ISHS and the Illinois House of Representatives to restore an amazing 19th-century montage that now hangs in the state capitol. The montage features individual photos of the entire 1879 House of Representatives.

Thank you for reading Illinois Heritage. Your membership and gifts keep this organization vital and relevant. We cannot serve Illinois history without you. 

The Illinois Bicentennial is now entering its fifth month. We hope you and your historical society or museum are finding significant and creative ways to celebrate and commemorate the anniversary, not just for the year, but for the future. Visit us on our website (www.historyillinois.org) and tell us what your community has planned. We’ll do our best to help you get the word out. 

In this issue of Illinois Heritage we celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Illinois Vietnam Veterans Memorial, meet forgotten playwright Charles Dazey, learn how amateur historians and genealogists can change history, and sit down to lunch with Sesquicentennial Church congregations.

Share your Heritage!

This March–April issue of Illinois Heritage highlights the recognition of thirty Illinois churches and synagogues that have been in continuous fellowship for 150 years or more. Currently, more than 200 churches and synagogues have been recognized by the ISHS.

The Bicentennial Year is well underway with many special events planned by local historical societies, libraries, government agencies and other community organizations. As an individual, consider reading one or more books listed in the Illinois Classics: A Bicentennial Reading List, a twelve-month reading list that includes novels, nonfictional works, and poetry, all by Illinois authors and expressive of the Illinois experience. 

This issue expresses not only the variety of interests in the state, but what is important at different periods in our state’s history.

The January-February 2018, issue of Illinois Heritage invites its readers to celebrate the state’s bicentennial.  Adventures around the Prairie State take us on a veritable road trip around the state without leaving our hearth.  Art and literature are celebrated with a look a Pulitzer Prize-winning authors Carl and Mark Van
Doren and the art of Irma Rene Koen. Traveling the state with authors Stephen Leonard and Keith Sculle will surely jog a reader’s memory of their own trips.  Finally, be sure not to miss our state’s bicentennial time travel in the first installment of “Illinois in Time.”