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Lawmakers celebrate historical markers At the beginning of March, State Representative and Deputy Majority Leader Arthur L. Turner (D, 9th District) introduced the following resolution into the record at the Illinois Statehouse in Springfield, thereby officially beginning the Society's 3rd annual "Historical Markers Awareness Week" celebration. Nine marker dedications are planned for the spring (see page 7). House Resolution #127 WHEREAS, Many places in Illinois are significant sites of local, state, national and world history; and Evanston author wins Society's first Russell P. Strange Book Award Louise (Lucy) W. Knight received the Society's first annual Russell P. Strange Memorial Book Award for her 2005 biography of Jane Addams on February 16 at the 27th Annual Illinois History Symposium. The award was presented at the symposium banquet, held at Illinois State University's Bone Student Center Ballroom. The 2007 recipient of this prestigious award is a Chicago-area native, currently living in Evanston. The award honors an outstanding achievement by a living author writing about a topic in Illinois history. Knight's book, Citizen: Jane Addams and the Struggle for Democracy (Univ. of Chicago Press), focuses on the first half of Addams's life, from her childhood in rural northern Illinois in the 1860s to her founding of Chicago's Hull House and activism for democracy and women's rights at the end of the 19th century. Knight is an independent scholar, author, and consultant, has taught rhetoric at Northwestern University. Her articles on Jane Addams have appeared in Journal of Women's History and Gender and History. The award is named for Colonel Russell P. Strange, a former vice president of the Society and a lifelong student of history. Col. Strange had an illustrious career as head of the University of Illinois's Air Force ROTC unit and chair of Eastern Illinois University's political science department, his position at the time of his death in 1966. The award was established by Priscilla J. Matthews, daughter of Colonel Strange. Ms. Matthews is Senior Cataloging Librarian at Milner Library and a member of the library faculty at Illinois State University. ILLINOIS HERITAGE 4Illinois libraries to host "Forever Free: Abraham Lincoln's Journey to Emancipation" Sixty-three libraries—including six in Illinois— have been selected to host a new tour of "Forever Free: Abraham Lincoln's Journey to Emancipation," an exhibit which reexamines President Lincoln's thoughts about slavery throughout his political career and the conditions which led to the Emancipation Proclamation. The American Library Association (ALA) Public Programs Office (PPO) and The Huntington Library, San Marino, California, organized the exhibit with grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission, Washington, D.C. The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, New York, provided additional support. Developed by The Huntington Library's John Rhodehamel, Norris Foundation Curator of American Historical Manuscripts, the exhibit consists of reproductions of rare historical documents and photographs from the Huntington, the Gilder Lehrman Institute, and other collections, and a text that draws on the latest scholarship in the field. The libraries selected for the new tour will host the exhibit for a six-week period from April 2007 through October 2011. Libraries will make the exhibit available for public viewing and host a number of educational programs and receptions to increase the public's understanding of the exhibit and its themes. All showings of the exhibition and related programs will be free and open to the public."This exhibit provides libraries with many excellent programming themes that will help audiences to understand the process Lincoln went through in deciding to support the abolition of slavery," said David Zeidberg, director of the Huntington Library. "We are pleased to be able to offer the project to another 63 libraries representing 31 states." The libraries selected for the new tour are (in alphabetical order by community): To see the complete tour itinerary, please visit www.ala.org/publicprograms/lincoln. American History 101 So you think you know American history? Answer this not-so-simple simple question: Who was America's first president? If—as do 95 percent of other red, white, and blue Americans—you answered, "George Washington,' you'd be wrong. Here's why. The Declaration of Independence was signed in July 1776 (we won't quibble about the date, although it wasn't July 4th), but the Constitution of the United States of America was not ratified until 1787. George Washington was not elected President until 1789. From 1776 until 1781, when Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown, Washington led the American armies in the Revolution, but he was not leading the country as its commander in chief. That task fell to the Continental Congress, which on March 1, 1781, adopted the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first official constitution. Once the Articles of Confederation were signed, a president was needed to "preside" over the Congress of the United States. The Congress — including George Washington — unanimously chose John Hanson of Maryland, who served in that office from November 5, 1781 until November 3, 1782. Hanson was the first American President to serve a full term in office and accomplished several important things, including establishing the nation's first Treasury and Foreign Affairs departments, and paying American troops who had fought in the Revolution. He also held the country together when angry Revolutionary soldiers threatened to bring down the government and install Washington as a monarch. Hanson was succeeded by six other American Presidents before Washington took office: Elias Boudinot (1783); Thomas Mifflin (1784); Richard Henry Lee (1785), Nathan Gorman (1786); Arthur St. Clair (1787), and Cyrus Griffin (1788). So why don't we ever hear about the first seven American Presidents? The Articles of Confederation, written when the Founding Fathers were deciding whether to be a sovereign nation or a loose confederation of independent states, did not give the national government enough power to enforce its own laws. Individual states had the power to levy taxes, impose tariffs, and to raise an army, but the federal government did not. These self-imposed restrictions nearly had disastrous effects during Shays' Rebellion in 1786. A new Constitution was drafted, this one empowering the federal government to hold far tighter reins on the fledgling democracy. It was under this new constitution that George Washington was elected President, and his seven predecessors were subsequently lost to history. John Hanson was the first American President and deserves to be remembered. —William Furry Society plans spring marker dedications The ISHS Historical Markers Committee has announced that several new and refurbished historical markers will be unveiled this spring. Stu Fliege, chair of the markers committee, released the names of 8 new markers and one restored marker that will be dedicated in coming weeks, including: ■ Earl C. Smith, Agricultural Leader marker, to be dedicated March 23 in Detroit, Illinois. Earl C. Smith of Pike County was president of the Illinois Agricultural Association/Illinois Farm Bureau, and later served as vice president of the American Farm Bureau Federation. His work and leadership brought relief to American farmers through the first and second terms of President Franklin Roosevelt. Co-sponsored by the Illinois Farm Bureau and the County Farm Bureaus in Illinois. ■ Senator John Humphrey Home, Orland Park, to be dedicated at 9 a.m. on Saturday, May 12. Senator Humphrey was elected to the Illinois House of Representatives (1880 and 1884) and served in the Illinois Senate from 1886-1910. His home, the second oldest in Orland Park, was built in 1881 and placed on the National Register in 2005. Co-sponsored by the Orland Historical Society. ■ Reservoir Park/Lanphier High School marker, Springfield, to be dedicated in mid-April. Reservoir Park was Springfield's municipal water source from the late 1800s until the building of Lake Springfield in the 1930s. The site was purchased by the Springfield School District, which constructed Lanphier High School there in 1935. The school was named for Robert C. Lanphier, a local industrialist. Co-sponsored by the Lan-Hi Yearbook Staff. For more information about times and locations for these marker dedications, call 217-525-2781. ILLINOIS HERITAGE 7 |Home|
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