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ISHS sponsors Governor Oglesby lecture Mark A. Plummer, a professor emeritus of history at Illinois State University and a past president of the Illinois State Historical Society (1985-'86), will deliver a free public lecture on Sunday, February 10, 2002, in the Old State Capitol House of Representatives in Springfield. Plummer, author of Lincoln's RailSplitter: Governor Richard J. Oglesby (2001, University of Illinois Press), will present a paper entitled '"Keep Close to the People: Governor Richard Oglesby and the Lincoln Icon." The event, cosponsored by the Illinois State Historical Society, The Sangamon County Historical Society, The Old State Capitol Foundation and the Illinois Humanities Council's Central Illinois Regional Planning Committee, is open to the public. For more information, contact the Society at 217-525-2781.
"Generations" deadline January 31, 2002 Central Illinois high school students have until January 31, 2002, to submit their entries for "Generations: A Writing Competition for High School Students." The competition, cosponsored by the IHC's Central Illinois Regional Planning Committee and the Illinois State Historical Society, promotes cross-generational communication of and about the humanities and is open to all high-school students in central Illinois. Entries can be in the form of fiction narrative, family history, personal narrative, poetry, songs, or interviews. For guidelines and examples of last year's winning entries, write: Generations High School Writing Competition, c/o Illinois State Historical Society, 210-1/2 South Sixth Street, Suite 200, Springfield, Illinois, 62701; visit our website at www.historyillinois.org: or call the ISHS at 217-525-2781. 4 IILLINOIS HERITAGE 
Return of the Rhymer Designer The home of Illinois poet Vachel Lindsay in Springfield reopened recently following a million-dollar, state-funded restoration. The Vachel Lindsay Home State Historic Site, 603 South Fifth Street (just south of the Illinois Executive Mansion), opened its doors on November 10, 2001, the 122" birthday of the "Prairie Troubadour," America's first and best-known poet of the jazz age. Lindsay whose works include "Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight," "General William Booth Enters Into Heaven," "The Chinese Nightingale," "The Congo," and "The Broncho that Would Not Be Broken of Dancing," was born in the house in 1879 and died there in 1931. In the first two decades of the previous century, Lindsay set out from the home on several "tramps" across the country, trading his rhymes for bread and lodging. After his almost overnight success following publication of his work in Poetry magazine, Lindsay lectured and toured widely, and became the first American poet to lecture at Oxford University. He later lived and married in Spokane, Washington, returning to Springfield and the family home in 1929. The beautifully restored Vachel Lindsay Home State Historic Site is open for tours from 12 to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. For more information call 217-524-0901. Closed but not forever The Springfield Children's Museum, 619 East Washington Street, has closed its doors. The seven-year-old, hands-on center for active young minds will be "closed indefinitely," says acting director Carol Watson Lubrant, who cites low attendance and high overhead for the closing. Lubrant, however, is optimistic the museum will get another chance. "The board of directors is staying together and we will keep our phone listing," she says. But Lubrant notes that when the museum reopens, it will undoubtedly be at a new location. Museum exhibits must be out of the building by January 31 and will be placed in storage. "It's going to be at least another year before we reopen, but we have preliminary dreams—and that's all I can say at this point." Musical Journey of Discovery The University of Missouri-Columbia is producing a musical version of the Lewis and Clark expedition call Corps of Discovery: A Musical Journey. The production, commissioned by the Show-Me Opera, is scheduled to premiere in Columbia on May 2-4, 2003, in time for the national bicentennial. The three-act musical drama features the work of composer Michael Ching and librettist Hugh Moffatt, who have collaborated on two previous operas. Following the premiere, a stripped-down, 45-ininute touring version of the musical will be made available to schools and museums. A sneak preview of the musical first act will be presented on March 16, 2002, at MU's Whitmore Recital Hall. For more information about the production, contact Pamela Legendre, Director, Show-Me Opera, 573-882-7657, legendrep@missouri.edu. Get your kicks... and credit too!
The Illinois State Historical Society will conduct a daylong Route 66 teachers' seminar on September 27, 2002, in Springfield. The Society and its co-sponsors will conduct the workshops in conjunction with a three-day international Route 66 festival organized for September 27 through 29 by the Springfield Convention and Visitors Bureau. This latter event is expected to draw as many as 150,000 people from all over the world. The seminar, however, will be limited to perhaps 50 registrants, unless demand dictates an increase in conference capacity. The focus audience will be primarily middle school and high school teachers of history and social studies in Illinois. Out-of-state teachers will be allowed to register if capacity permits. For more information, call the Society's office 217-525-2781. Watch for more details in future issues of Illinois Heritage or on our website: www.historyillinois.org. Call for papers The Illinois State Historical Society invites proposals for the 23rd annual Illinois History Symposium. The symposium will be held December 6-7, 2002, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Springfield. Papers on any aspect of Illinois history, culture, politics, geography, literature, and archaeology, as well as related topics such as archives, museums, and historic sites, will be considered. The review committee welcomes proposals from amateurs as well as professionals, undergraduates and graduate students—anyone regardless of age or affiliation—whose research is relevant to Illinois history, broadly defined. For more information call the Society office at 217-525-2781. ILLINOIS HERITAGE 5 |
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