Videos

Learn about the history of early baseball, how the game differs from the game we know today, the organizations that existed locally and even where the game was banned!

Just in time for Halloween, the Illinois State Historical Society is proud to present its very first program of the ISHS History Happy Hour. This first presentation, "Stories in Stone: Decoding the Sentiment Behind Cemetery Symbolism," is presented by our very own board member Debra Dudek.

This is the true story of Lincoln's first freed slave, Mrs. Nance Legins-Costley (1813-1873) in Illinois Supreme Court in 1841; beginning of the end of slavery in Illinois and the United States. Nance's master, state senator Thomas Cox, wanted to make slavery legal by constitutional amendment in Illinois. Forty years later, Lincoln reversed that and made slavery unconstitutional by the 13th Amendment. Carl Adam's book about this fascinating topic may be purchase at www.nancebook.com.

This program is part of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum’s Illinois History Forum series. ALPLM Oral History Director Dr. Mark DePue talks with Springfield author Mark Flotow about his book, "In Their Letters, in Their Words: Illinois Civil War Soldiers Write Home."

Sangamon County Historical Society presents Mark Flotow’s “I think that we will Soon Be in Springfield” which focuses on Illinois Civil War soldiers’ quotations about Sangamon County from their personal letters.

The November ISHS History Happy Hour program is entitled Native Americans of the Illinois Country and is presented by Mark Walczynski. Mark is the Park Historian for the Starved Rock Foundation located at Starved Rock State Park, Utica, Illinois. Mark’s studies focus on the Franco-Amerindian history of the Western Great Lakes and the Illinois Country during the last 40 years of the 1600s. He is also an affiliate with the Illinois Archaeological Survey.

"The Chicago Monuments Project, Race, and Radical Imagination" A conversation with William Estrada, artist and Chicago Monuments Project Advisory Committee Member. Moderated by Dr. Hinda Seif, Associate Professor of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Illinois Springfield.

On September 26, 1963, America got its first taste of English rock ‘n’ roll. Five months before the beginning of “Beatlemania,” before the Beatles played on the “Ed Sullivan Show,” George Harrison, lead guitarist for the British band, became the first Beatle to play publicly in America at the VFW hall located at 1201 Veterans Drive in Eldorado. During the summer of 1963, although the Beatles had a number one hit in England, the band was still unknown in the United States. When the band members took a holiday, Harrison and his brother, Peter, visited their sister Louise in Benton, Illinois making friends, camping in the Garden of the Gods, and watching a parade in Harrisburg. George bought a guitar in Mt. Vernon and later played it at Beatles performances. Two nights before returning to England, George and his siblings came to the VFW hall to hear the Four Vests, a popular local band. The band, which had already jammed with George in his sister’s living, asked George to sit in, introducing Harrison as, “The Elvis of England.” George Harrison made his American debut playing songs such as “Johnny Be Good,” “Your Cheating Heart,” and “Teddy Bear” in front of between 75 and 100 people. After the performance, one of those present said that “with the right kind of backing that kid may go places.”

"The Springfield Equal Justice Project: An Interactive Conversation about the Origin and Purpose of SEJP and Authentic Storytelling of our State’s History" Nancy Sage, SEJP Convener and Executive Director of the Jewish Federation of Springfield Atty. Shannon Dewith-McCormick, SEJP Co-Chair and Lead Strategist for Dewith and Associates Cinnamon Catlin-Legutko, SEJP Co-Chair and Director of the Illinois State Museum. Moderator: William P. Shannon, IV

A conversation with Dino Robinson, Founder, Shorefront Legacy Center, Evanston, IL Moderated by Dr. Tim Draper, Professor of History, Waubonsee Community College

In a ZOOM presentation, in collaboration with the Edgewater Historical Society, local historian Professor John F. Lyons discusses some of the Beatles more interesting episodes in Chicago.

SANTIAGO X (Koasati and Hacha.Maori), Chicago-based i Indigenous futurist, multidisciplinary artist and architect specializing in land, architectural, and new media installation. His work illuminates the liminal space between the ancestral plane and our accelerating post-human world.

Join us for a new ISHS History Happy Hour - January 2021 Edition with Tina Beaird and her lecture 'Pandemic 1918! Battling Influenza During the Great War.' Tina Beaird, owner of Tamarack Genealogy, is a genealogy & local history librarian at the Plainfield Public Library. She lectures nationally on topics including genealogical methodology, military records, Scottish research and photo and archival preservation. ISHS History Happy Hour events and webinars are free and open to everyone. Donations gratefully accepted online by Venmo (@historyillinois ) and Paypal (paypal.me/historyillinois)

Sherry Williams, President, Bronzeville Historical Society Andrea Aggert, Architect of the Capitol Walt Williams, Economic/Community Development Director, City of Edwardsville Dr. David Joens, Director, Illinois State Archives (Moderator)

Galena Illinois boasts that it sent nine generals to the Civil War, the most famous of whom is Ulysses S. Grant. Many cannot name the other eight generals, but in addition to Ely S. Parker, Jasper Maltby and John Duer, there were two John Smith's. John Corson Smith fought in most of the major battles of the Army of the Cumberland, but this talk focuses on John Eugene Smith. Our Smith operated a silver shop on Main Street in Galena near the Rawlins law office and the Grant Tannery. John E. Smith befriended U.S. Grant and was instrumental in restoring Grant to the army. He is the player behind the scenes in many well-known events of the war and is perhaps the most important unknown general of the war. Robert I. Girardi has a master’s degree in Public History from Loyola University of Chicago. He is a past president of the Civil War Round Table of Chicago, a fellow of the Company of Military Historians, and is on the Board of Directors of the Illinois State Historical Society. He is a popular speaker and consultant on all aspects of the American Civil War. He has written or edited many books on the American Civil War, including The Military Memoirs of General John Pope, Campaigning with Uncle Billy, and The Civil War Memoirs of Sgt. Lyman. Presented to the Chicago Civil War Round Table on Jan. 14th, 2022

Sherry Williams, President, Bronzeville Historical Society Walt Williams, Economic/Community Development Director, City of Edwardsville Moderator: Dr. David Joens, Director, Illinois State Archives

Dr. Mark Pohlad, Associate Professor of Art History, DePaul University, interviews John McClarey about his work.

Jenn Edginton, Director of Interpretation, Illinois State Museum Heather Bruegl (Oneida/Stockbridge Munsee), Director of Cultural Affairs at Stockbridge-Munsee, Wisconsin, Community David O’Connor (Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa), Education Consultant, Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction