The Downers Grove Historical Society has been invited to speak at The 26th Conference on Illinois History Annual Conference hosted by the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield. The two-day conference is on Thursday and Friday, October 3-4. This conference highlights the research of any aspect of Illinois’s history, culture, politics, geography, or archaeology.
Society Board member Marty Acks will be presenting “Israel Blackburn: From Slavery to Civil War Service, Landowner, Farmer, and Founder of the Village of Downers Grove.” The presentation is part of a larger session on “The African American Experience in Illinois History.” This session will be held at 1:45 – 3:15 on October 4th.
Other sessions of local interest include a session by Andrea Field of Naper Settlement and another on the Underground Railroad.
For more details on the conference, see https://presidentlincoln.illinois.gov/learn/library-research/research-divisions/conference-on-illinois-history/
