ISHS Passes Resolution regarding ALPLM's Termination of Illinois State Historian

The Illinois State Historical Society's Officers, Directors, and Advisers passed the following resolution on Tuesday, July 21, 2020, regarding the ALPLM's Board of Trustees decision to terminate the employment of Dr. Samuel Wheeler as Illinois State Historian. The Society believes the Illinois State Historian serves an important role and now is not a good time for the position to be vacant.

RESOLUTION
to the Governor of the State of Illinois
and the Board of Trustees of the Abraham Lincoln Library and Museum

WHEREAS; the Illinois State Historical Society was founded in 1899 to promote the study of Illinois history and is the state’s oldest and largest private institution dedicated to the study and promotion of Illinois history; and

WHEREAS; the mission of the Illinois State Historical Society is to foster awareness, understanding, research, preservation, and recognition of history in Illinois; and

WHEREAS; the Illinois State Historical Society works and partners with a variety of Illinois groups, communities, organizations and leaders who are dedicated to the preservation and promotion of Illinois history in all its diversity; and

WHEREAS; the Illinois State Historical Society has partnered in the past with the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum (ALPLM), formerly the Illinois State Historical Library, and with the administrators and staff at the ALPLM; and

WHEREAS, the ALPLM recently removed without public explanation the state historian from his job, leaving this position empty at a time when history itself is being questioned and old assumptions are being challenged; and

WHEREAS, state statute (20 ILCS 3475) defines the state historian position as “the State's leading authority on the history of Illinois;” and

WHEREAS, welcome and needed discussions about our history should be led and articulated by a state historian engaged in and knowledgeable about Illinois history; and, 

WHEREAS, the State Historian is to be appointed by the Executive Director of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum with the advice and consent of the Board of Trustees of the Abraham Lincoln Library and Museum; and

WHEREAS, the Illinois State Historical Society is a non-partisan organization that takes positions on current issues only as they relate to our mission, vision, and goals; therefore, be it

RESOLVED: that the Illinois State Historical Society urges the Executive Director of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, and the Board of Trustees of the Abraham Lincoln Library and Museum to quickly fill the position of State Historian; and be it further

RESOLVED, that the Illinois State Historical Society is willing to assist the Executive Director of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum and its Board of Trustees in these endeavors.

The Officers, Directors, and Advisers of the Illinois State Historical Society
July 21, 2020

View Resolution