Illinois History and Lincoln Collections

The IHLC is working to document Illinoisans’ pandemic experiences, and we want to hear from you. Submissions can take many forms, such as emails, typed or handwritten journal entries, photographs, video/audio recordings, art, and more: go.library.illinois.edu/IHLC-COVID-19-…

Happy 216th Birthday, Abe! Come help us celebrate Presidents’ Day and Abraham Lincoln’s birthday next Monday, February 17th and check out IHLC’s new exhibit, “From Man to Myth: Lincoln’s Evolving Image” in Main Library Room 324.

#OnThisDay in 1809, our 16th president was born. This drawing of Lincoln is one of many held within our collections! Visit IHLC to research in our collections or check out our blog at publish.illinois.edu/ihlc-blog/to read more about our Lincoln-related materials

After his death, Lincoln’s body was transported to his former home of Springfield, Illinois on a funeral train. Millions of Americans reportedly gathered to view the train and pay their respects to their martyred president. Check out our blog at publish.illinois.edu/ihlc-blog/2019…

We're back for another #SmallTownSaturday! Check out our new blog post on Farmer City, Illinois: publish.illinois.edu/ihlc-blog/2024…

Abraham Lincoln’s assassination was discussed around the nation. In this letter from Sallie Pattison to future husband Henry Van Sellar, Pattison describes the feeling of mourning and “such gloom as it caused almost utter despair was depicted on almost every countenance.”

In the days following his assassination, Lincoln’s death was widely eulogized. In Nathaniel Milton Wood’s “Eulogy on Abraham Lincoln,” he remarks that “we weep for [Lincoln] today, the nation weeps in sympathy with his widow’s and orphans’ grief.”

#OnThisDay April 15, 1865 Abraham Lincoln died from a gunshot wound inflicted by assassin John Wilkes Booth. Following his death, the country mourned the president who led them through the Civil War. Pictured is the Lincoln Home draped in mourning for the assassinated president.

This postcard depicts Lincoln’s departure from Springfield, Illinois to Washington, D.C. for his inauguration. To learn more about Lincoln’s campaigns, check out our digital exhibit “The People’s Candidate: Lincoln’s Presidential Elections” at publish.illinois.edu/ihlc-blog/exhi…

Though Lincoln was born in Kentucky, his longtime home of Illinois is known as the “Land of Lincoln.” Learn more about Lincoln’s Illinois homes in our blog, “’Here I Have Lived’: Recreating the Land of Lincoln” at publish.illinois.edu/ihlc-blog/exhi…

Many events are held each year to celebrate President Lincoln’s birth. In Springfield, IL the Abraham Lincoln Association (formerly the Lincoln Centennial Association) holds an annual banquet. Pictured is a program for the banquet celebrating the 108th anniversary of his birth.

Happy 215th Birthday, Abe! #OnThisDay in 1809, Lincoln was born in a cabin in Hardin County, Kentucky. Find more Lincoln photographs in our digital collection MS 1027 – Frederick Hill Meserve Select Photographs, available at digital.library.illinois.edu/collections/6f…

Welcome back, UIUC! The IHLC is open Monday through Friday, 9am-12pm and 1pm-5pm. Come visit us in Rm. 324 of the Main Library! Questions? Email us at ihlc@library.illinois.edu or check out our website (library.illinois.edu/ihx).

Happy winter break, UIUC! The IHLC is open Monday through Friday, 1pm-5pm on Dec. 18-21 and Jan. 2-12. Walk-ins welcome--come say hi and check out our collection materials! Questions? Email us at ihlc@library.illinois.edu or check out our website (library.illinois.edu/ihx).

The A.E. Staley Lockout was part of a series of labor disputes during the early 1990s known as the “Decatur War Zone.” During the “War Zone,” locked out and striking workers from A.E. Staley, Caterpillar, and Firestone/Bridgestone protested unsafe labor conditions.

Visit our exhibit to learn why and how A.E. Staley workers weathered a nearly 3-year lockout, using creative protest strategies and maintaining solidarity to put pressure on a powerful multinational corporation.

“Solidarity Forever: Decatur and the A.E. Staley Lockout, 1993-1996” is on display now at IHLC! This exhibit explores the lived experiences and protest strategies of locked out workers in Decatur, Illinois.

How did the 19th-century communitarianism movement seek to create perfect societies while challenging contemporary American ideals of individualism and industrialization? Learn more in IHLC’s new digital exhibit, “Constructing Utopias”! bit.ly/3QlvLmu

Explore how small-town Jewish Illinoisans used identity-based organizations to participate politically and socially in the mid to late 1900s! “Pulling It All Together” is now a digital exhibit: bit.ly/3FGnMLB

Check out our newest blog post with photos from the Joseph Gurney Cannon Album, which chronicles the first years of the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers in Danville, Illinois! To learn more about the history of the Old Soldier's Home, visit buff.ly/3NOOSp5

#OnThisDay 90 years ago, President Franklin D. Roosevelt addressed Congress to propose the work relief program the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). Below are three CCC workers on the back of a work truck near Macomb, from the Bullard Scrapbook at IHLC (MS 1097), circa 1937.