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A Bicentennial Commemorative of the Prairie State: Readings from the "Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society"
Edited by David W. Scott, with a foreword by Leah Joy Axelrod

Culled from the Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society’s 110-year archive of scholarship, this volume of more than thirty articles illuminates the colorful episodes, meaningful events, and significant characters in the rich history of Illinois. Selected by committee and edited by David W. Scott, A Bicentennial Commemorative of the Prairie State celebrates the state’s two-hundred-year history with a broad scope of voices and perspective.

I Grew Up in War Housing: The History of Defense Housing Projects in East Alton, Illinois 1941-1954, a new book by Philip David Walkington, offers a firsthand depiction of growing up in a WWII defense housing project during an unparalleled time in American history.

The 2018 King V. Hostick Scholarship recipients were announced in early June by the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum and the Illinois State Historical Society. This year’s scholarship winners come from across the nation, and represent the finest new scholarship in Prairie State history.

Thanks to the General John A. Logan Museum, Murphysboro, Illinois, for permission to reprint this article and General Order 11 from the museum's website. For more information go to: http://www.loganmuseum.org/index.php/memorial-day.

On May 5, 1868, General John A. Logan, as Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), issued General Order No. 11 designating May 30 “for the purpose of strewing with flowers or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion.”  Logan’s General Order, his Memorial Day Order, established Memorial Day as a national holiday. 

ATTENTION TEACHERS AND EDUCATORS

The Make Reconstruction History Visible mapping project (a Zinn Education Project) is an opportunity for students and teachers to identify and advocate for public recognition of Reconstruction history in their community and the significant accomplishments made by newly freed people and their white allies.