Civil War symposia

Civil War historians and teachers will find plenty to engage their minds this summer with two symposia offered in central Illinois. "An Almost Silent Cry: Children of the Civil War, North & South" will be hosted by the University of Illinois in the UIS Brookens Auditorium at Springfield on June 25. Authors of some of the finest works on children of the Civil War will speak, bringing their perspectives and stories about the heartache, courage, and strength, and determination of these children. Speakers include James Marten, Wilma King, Mary Niall Mitchell, and Marie Jenkins Schwartz. The $15 dollar registration fee includes a buffet lunch. Six CPDU credits will be offered to teachers who attend.

The Military History Education Group of Atwood, Illinois, will host its sixth annual Summer Conference on June 5 in Arthur. Four Civil War scholars will address a variety of topics about the Civil War, including: "The Confederate Command During Fort Henry-Fort Donnelson Campaign" (Kendall G. Gott); "To Go in For Ironclads: Seagoing Ironclads for the Union Navy" (William H. Roberts); "Rediscovering Shanks Evans and the Tramp Brigade" (Jason H. Silverman); and "The Letters of Brigadier General Daniel F. Griffin" (Bryan S. Bush). The conference will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Yoder's Kitchen Banquet Facility. Registration is $40. For more information contact Bruce Gregory at 217-578-2262.

Centennial celebrations

The Morgan County Historical Society, the Ravinia Music Festival, and Shields Funeral Home of Cairo are three of the more than 200 businesses and not-for-profits who will celebrate their 100th birthday in 2004. Since 1984 the Illinois State Historical Society has honored and recognized more than 1,100 centennial corporations through its Centennial Awards Program. Centennial winners receive a plaque inscribed by the governor and ISHS president, statewide media recognition, a year's free membership in the ISHS, a free ticket to the Awards Banquet (this year held at Chicago's Palmer House Hilton on October 15), and use of the Centennial Awards logo on their business stationery for the duration of their membership. The registration fee is $50. For more information call 217-525-2781, or visit the Society's website at www.historyillinois.org.

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Share your Visions

The Illinois State Historical Society is looking for handsome historic photographs to include in the 2005 Illinois Visions Calendar. Museums, historical societies, and interested parties are encouraged to send their favorite images from Illinois' past to: Visions Calendar, Illinois State Historical Society, 210 1/2 South Sixth Street, Suite 200, Springfield, Illinois, 62701. All photos accompanied by self-addressed, stamped-envelopes will be returned. Digital photographs (jpgs, please!) are welcome, but should be at least 300 dpi. Deadline is July 15. For more information, call 217-525-2781.

Grand Excursion 2004

The Mississippi has no memory, but not so the souls who live along its banks. This summer, 50 communities from St. Paul to St. Louis will celebrate Grand Excursion 2004, a recreation of the 1854 steamboat expedition that brought international attention to the American frontier. The celebration lasts for two weeks, but the highlight in Illinois is the Grand Excursion Weekend, June 24-27 in the Quad Cities. Day cruises, moonlight cruises, and breakfast lunch and dinner cruises will churn the waters from Galena to Rock Island, serving up memories and more than a little history for those daring enough to cross the gangplank. For nostalgic travelers with time and a few more resources, the Delta Queen and Mississippi Queen riverboats will host eleven- and seven-day excursion along the 400-mile route, with ticket prices from $2,100 to $5,115. That's a lot of Mississippi to drink in.

For those who prefer their frills with smaller price tags, harbor and moonlight cruises are under $30, with day cruises—including all meals—under $150. Children get substantial discounts so family adventures are affordable. There's even something for landlubbers: Steam locomotive trips up and down the river corridor. To find out more, or to book passage on the sesqui-centennial flotilla, call 1-866-GEX-2004 .

Illinois primitives

The history of Illinois primitive art is explored in the Spring 2004 issue of Living Museum, a publication of the Illinois State Museum Society. Robert Sill, Curator of Fine Art at the ISM, explores the work of several early Illinois portrait painters in "Portraits: 1840-1940," including Sheldon Peck, Edward Richardson Jr., L. Rowley Jacobs, and others. Sill also includes works by later artists such as Lorado Taft and Gertrude Abercrombie in his retrospective of art from the museum's permanent collection. The Living Museum is available without charge from the Illinois State Museum, 502 South Spring Street, Springfield, Illinois, 62706-5000.

The "Perfect" Crime revisited

The 1924 murder of young Bobby Franks rocked Chicago, and when the murderers—Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb-- were discovered to be two brilliant sons of wealthy Hyde Park families, national headlines resulted. The Chicago Historical Society's new exhibit, Leopold and Loeb: The "Perfect" Crime, explores the evidence used to track down these self-appointed "supermen," examines the media circus around the trial, and highlights the defense presented by Clarence Darrow, who delivered one of his most famous speeches in pleading against the death penalty. The exhibition opens May 21 on the 80th anniversary of the crime. For more information, visit the CHS website at www.chicagohistory.org.

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