 The
society's journal publishes only articles
recommended by professional historians, who
are typically distinguished professors at
four-year colleges and universities. Henson
earned a Ph.D. in English studies from
Illinois State University in 1982 and is
professor emeritus of English at Missouri
State University in Springfield, Mo.
Henson's article explains his research
process that led to the discovery of
previously unidentified newspaper (primary)
sources about this event, which took place
on the day after the last Lincoln-Douglas
debate in Alton. (Primary sources are
contemporary with a given event.) Henson
used numerous primary sources, including the
texts of the Lincoln-Douglas debates, in the
composition of the play script that was
adapted for the re-enactment of this
historic event in Lincoln on Oct. 16, 2008.
The article includes historic photos and a
summary of the play, with excerpts
demonstrating Lincoln's arguments against
slavery and his humorous jabs at Stephen A.
Douglas, his opponent in the 1858 Senate
race.
The double, book-length journal issue
(213 pages) features nine articles, most of
them about Mr. Lincoln's various
career-related experiences in Illinois. Also
included are reviews of 25 books: new and
recent as well as collections, reprints and
picture books relating to Mr. Lincoln. These
reviews are the work of Dr. Robert McColley,
professor emeritus of history at the
University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana. On
the cover is the famous photo of Mr. Lincoln
taken by Alexander Hesler on June 3, 1860,
in Springfield, soon after Mr. Lincoln
became the Republican presidential nominee.
The state historical society owns the only
two surviving glass-plate positive images of
this treasured photo.
The articles in this issue reflect the
diversity of Lincoln's career-related
experiences in Illinois. One article focuses
on Lincoln in Mercer County (western
Illinois), where he spent time as a soldier
during the Black Hawk War and later worked
as a surveyor. Another article explains one
of Lincoln's little-known Illinois Supreme
Court cases (1841), Bailey v. Cromwell, in
which he successfully defended a young black
woman in her efforts to gain her freedom.
This case became an important legal
precedent as well as early evidence of
Lincoln's lifelong anti-slavery views.
In another article, Dr. Daniel W. Stowell,
director and editor of the Papers of Abraham
Lincoln, begins by discussing the peculiar
social phenomenon of 19th-century camp
meetings, which attracted hucksters and
rowdies as well as the religious faithful.
Next, Stowell describes the 1857 Methodist
camp meeting in Mason County that was the
setting for the murder of James Preston
Metzger, a murder that led to Lincoln's most
famous case -- the almanac trial at
Beardstown the following summer in which
Lincoln successfully defended Duff
Armstrong.
Other articles of significance explore
Lincoln's political relationships with the
Mormons and Germans.
Henson's article on the research for the
1858 Abe rally-speech re-enactment is the
only one in the special issue with a direct
connection to the Abraham Lincoln
Bicentennial celebration. The rally-speech
re-enactment last fall -- on the
sesquicentennial anniversary of the original
event -- exemplifies the Illinois Abraham
Lincoln Bicentennial Commission's mission,
which "encourages every community and
citizen to become involved … to learn about
their Lincoln stories and explore ways to
relate their Lincoln heritage in public
events and commemorative activities."
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top of second column] |
Thus, in the future when people look back
to see how the Lincoln bicentennial was
celebrated, they will discover from this
article that his first namesake town
commemorated its unique Lincoln heritage
with a truly original and spectacular event.
For that reason, everyone associated with
Lincoln, Ill., can be proud and grateful to
the city's Lincoln Bicentennial Commission
for producing the re-enactment. Special
thanks are due Ron Keller, Paul Beaver,
Wanda Lee Rohlfs and Sean Patrick Leonard,
who portrayed an impassioned Mr. Lincoln.
Henson plans to purchase copies of the
special issue of the journal and donate some
to the Lincoln Public Library, the libraries
of Lincoln Christian College and Seminary
and Lincoln College, as well as to Main
Street Lincoln and the Logan County
Genealogical and Historical Society.
Individual copies and copies in bulk
(suitable for classrooms) may be purchased
from the Illinois State Historical Society,
PO Box 1800, Springfield, IL 62701-1503;
phone 217-525-2781.
According to the Web site of the Illinois
State Historical Society (founded 1899), its
mission is to foster research, preservation
and recognition of history in Illinois. This
nonprofit organization depends solely on
membership dues, gifts, bequests and
foundation grants. Access the society's Web
site at
http://www.historyillinois.org/.
Access a link to the cover of the special
issue, the table of contents, the editor's
page, biographical sketches of the authors,
the first two pages of Henson's article and
more information about the society:
http://www.geocities.com/
findinglincolnillinois/
abes200th-lincolnil.html#review.
Additionally, Henson recently published a
video of the re-enactment on the Internet.
This video was produced by his sister-in-law
and former student at Pekin Community High
School, Caryl Schlicher. Another video
version of this event -- shot with higher
resolution, showing more scenes and
providing more production information -- is
available for purchase at Main Street
Lincoln, 109 S. Kickapoo St., Lincoln, IL
62656.
Access the Google video publication of
the 2008 re-enactment of Abraham Lincoln's
political rally and speech in his first
namesake town on Oct. 16, 1858:
http://video.google.com/
videoplay?docid=-7285041524482693764.
[Text from
file received from
Darold Leigh Henson; LDN staff]
 |
