UIS Lincoln Legacy Lectures focus on Lincoln and Education

Illustration by Harry Dayton Sickles (1934)

The 15th annual Lincoln Legacy Lectures presented by the University of Illinois Springfield will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. on Thursday, October 12, 2017, in Brookens Auditorium, located on the lower level of Brookens Library at UIS.

This year’s topic is “Lincoln and Education.” The lectures, and a reception and book signing that will immediately follow, are free and open to the public. No reservation is required.

The Lincoln Legacy Lecture Series brings nationally known scholars to Springfield to present lectures on topics that both engaged Abraham Lincoln and the citizens of his era and are still timely today.

This year’s featured speakers are Robert Bray, Colwell Professor of English Emeritus at Illinois Wesleyan University, and Paula R. Shotwell, educator and creator of the Lincoln Living History Project. Michael Burlingame, Chancellor Naomi B. Lynn Distinguished Chair in Lincoln Studies at UIS, will give opening remarks on “Lincoln’s Views on Education,” and serve as moderator.

In the first lecture, Bray will describe “Lincoln’s Self-Education: The Personal and the Public.” In the second lecture, Shotwell will explore “Why Lincoln?: An Examination of Lincoln’s Role in Today’s Education.” The speakers will discuss the contemporary implications of their lectures at the beginning of the Q & A session.

Bray is the author of a prize-winning book, “Reading with Lincoln” (Southern Illinois University Press, 2010). Shotwell developed a Living History Project with the staff of the Old State Capitol in Springfield, which was given a Superior Achievement Award by the Illinois Association of Museums. Burlingame is the author of the two-volume biography, “Abraham Lincoln: A Life” (Johns Hopkins University Press, paper, 2012).

The Lincoln Legacy Lecture Series is sponsored by the UIS Center for State Policy and Leadership, in cooperation with the Chancellor Naomi B. Lynn Distinguished Chair in Lincoln Studies. Cosponsors of this year's event include the Abraham Lincoln Association, Brookens Library John Holtz Memorial Lecture, Engaged Citizenship Speaker Series, Gobberdiel Endowment, Illinois State Historical Society, Looking for Lincoln Heritage Coalition, NPR Illinois, UIS Colleges of Education and Human Services and Liberal Arts and Sciences, and the UIS Office of Advancement.

Doors will open at 6 p.m. Seating in Brookens Auditorium is limited; however, overflow seating will be available in the Public Affairs Center, Level 1, Conference Rooms C/D, where the audience can watch a large-screen live video feed. Those unable to attend in person can watch a live webcast at the time of the event.

For more information, contact the Center for State Policy and Leadership at 217/206-7163 or visit the Lincoln Legacy Lectures website.