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Current News
LaHood Honored as a 2025 Heritage Champion
Saturday, February 15, 2025
The Alliance of National Heritage Areas (ANHA) honored Rep. Darin LaHood (R-IL) as a 2025 Heritage Champion. Rep. LaHood and three others were recognized during ANHA’s annual Congressional Breakfast and Awards Reception.
Eleven Illinois Communities Receive Grants for Lincoln-Related Projects
Wednesday, February 12, 2025
Eleven entities have been awarded grants from the Abraham Lincoln National Heritage Area, also known as Looking for Lincoln. The funds are designated for creating or refreshing exhibits in museums or visitor centers, creating digital interpretive projects
Grant Opportunity for Lincoln Interpretation
Tuesday, December 17, 2024
The Abraham Lincoln National Heritage Area is offering a funding opportunity for up to $10,000 for eligible education and interpretive projects for organizations within the Abraham Lincoln National Heritage Area, also known as Looking for Lincoln.
Upcoming Events
Freedom Seekers and the Underground Railroad in Chicago
Wednesday, March 19, 2025 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM
In the decades before the Civil War, more than 3,000 people escaping their enslavement in the South made their way to the Chicago region. The city was known as a "hotbed of abolition" and relatively safe for freedom seekers. Most traveled on to Detroit and freedom in Canada. This program will explore stories of freedom seekers traveling to and through Chicago and the remarkable collection of Black and white families directly involved in providing assistance.
Larry McClellan's consulting, research and writing focus is on freedom seekers and the Underground Railroad, and on African American and regional history south of Chicago. Major publications include 25 articles in the Encyclopedia of Chicago [2005]; The Underground Railroad South of Chicago [2019], co-author of To the River, The Remarkable Journey of Caroline Quarlls, a Freedom Seeker on the Underground Railroad [2019]. Onward to Chicago: Freedom Seekers and the Underground Railroad in Northeastern Illinois was published by Southern Illinois University Press in 2023. This received the national 2023 Memorial Prize for the Advancement of Knowledge from the Underground Railroad Free Press. In 2022 he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Illinois State Historical Society for his contributions to Illinois history and, in 2024, they gave his latest book their Award for Superior Achievement.
This program will livestream on Looking for Lincoln's Facebook page and YouTube Channel. The event is FREE.
The Presumption of Freedom: The Illinois Supreme Court and the Fate of Slavery in Illinois
Wednesday, May 21, 2025 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Though Illinois entered the Union as a free state in 1818, slavery continued to exist within its borders for decades. Freedom seekers, abolitionists, and pro-slavery forces turned to the judicial system to determine the fate of slavery in Illinois. This talk will highlight several of the nearly two dozen slave cases that reached the Illinois Supreme Court and examine the Court’s role in ending slavery in the Prairie State.
John Lupton, Executive Director, Illinois Supreme Court Historic Preservation Commission. Samuel Wheeler, Director of History Programs, Illinois Supreme Court Historic Preservation Commission.
Regional Highlight
Abraham Lincoln started his political career in 1834 as an Illinois state legislator in Vandalia, Illinois. The community of Vandalia was the Illinois State Capitol from 1820-1839. Lincoln would spend eight years in the state legislature and eventually vote to move the state capitol to Springfield, Illinois.