It’s now been more than 200 years (201, actually) since Abraham Lincoln’s birth on Feb. 12, 1809, but events celebrating his life and legacy are far from over. Whether they’re billed as Lincoln Bicentennial events or just Lincoln-related happenings, you can find a bit of the sixteenth President here, there and everywhere.
I’m afraid I’ve let many of my loyal Lincoln Buff 2 blog followers down in recent months as I tried to catch my breath from more than a year of Lincoln events, blogging and Twitter - and attempted to get back to a more normal semblance of life. I’ve had nearly a non-presence in the blogosphere, but have attempted to flutter around in the twittersphere.
I’ve caught my breath a bit now, so it’s time to catch you up on some upcoming Lincoln-related events.
Here are some of the things you won’t want to miss in April 2010. Be sure to click on the hyperlinks (where available) to learn more about the events. The best thing about them? These three are all free!
April 7, Illinois College, Jacksonville, Ill.
White House correspondent Helen Thomas will make a trek to the same college on the prairie where Lincoln delivered his “Discoveries and Inventions” speech 151 years ago. Thomas will deliver the Phi Alpha Lecture, speaking on the American presidency at 7 p.m. in Rammelkamp Chapel. She’ll also be inducted as an honorary member of Phi Alpha Literary Society, which named Lincoln an honorary member in 1859. The event, open to the public, is free.
April 11 – Decatur Public Library, Decatur, Ill.
Dan Guillory, professor emeritus at Millikin University, and author of “The Lincoln Poems,” will present “Housepoems,” original poetry in honor of National Poetry Month at 2 p.m. in the Madden Auditorium of the Decatur Public Library on Sunday, April 11. The reading is free and open to the public.
The collection includes humorous and meditative poems on subjects as diverse as food, cats, birds, wild animals, death, weather, gardening, marriage, cars, friendship and the general passage of time. The poems are the product of a “poetry diary” project.
Guillory has won awards or grants from the Illinois Arts Council, the Academy of American Poets, and the American Library Association. He is the author of seven books and one audio book. His newest work, “People and Places in the Land of Lincoln,” will be released in May.
April 13 – Appalachian State University, Boone, N.C.
Harold Holzer, co-chair of the United States Lincoln Bicentennial Commission, and author of more than 30 books on Lincoln, will speak about “Why Lincoln Matters—To History, To Our Presidents, and Us.” I can tell you from experience, this is an interesting presentation. You’ll hear how Lincoln’s appeal and legacy, which have provided inspiration for more than a century and a half, continue to move and guide yet today. And best of all, this event is free, too!
Among my first book reviews in the late 1990s was a piece about one of Holzer’s early Lincoln books. When the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum opened in 2005, I got to meet him and a number of other Lincoln scholars. I’m still in awe at the support I get from this fantastic group of men and women, as many of them have stepped up to mentor me over the last few years. And I continue to be thankful for Harold Holzer’s encouragement and support.
More to come
I’ve got news of other Lincoln-related events coming down the pike, so come back in a few days. I won’t stay away so long next time. Ann
Showing posts with label Illinois College. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Illinois College. Show all posts
Monday, April 5, 2010
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
First impressions
They say you never get a second chance to make a first impression. If that’s the case, I’m sure I’ve gone down in history as making a complete fool of myself upon meeting one of my favorite actors.
Why?
Why?
If you had a chance to meet a famous film star, one whose career spanned your entire adult life, who earned an Academy Award for Best Actor and a nomination for another, who won several Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild Awards for Best Actor or Best Supporting Actor, what would your first words be? Probably not, “Dreyfuss, you outbid me!”
Well, I met Richard Dreyfuss and, oh my, did I ever blow it! When I should have said, “Mr. Dreyfuss, it’s such a pleasure to meet you. I’ve enjoyed following your career. I’m really looking forward to your presentation this evening,” instead I gave him crap - for outbidding me by 15 bucks on a batch of Lincoln books as a silent auction was about to end.
Well, I met Richard Dreyfuss and, oh my, did I ever blow it! When I should have said, “Mr. Dreyfuss, it’s such a pleasure to meet you. I’ve enjoyed following your career. I’m really looking forward to your presentation this evening,” instead I gave him crap - for outbidding me by 15 bucks on a batch of Lincoln books as a silent auction was about to end.
I’m lucky, I guess. That - or Dreyfuss is a good sport.
Instead of saying, “Who do you think you are, and what makes you think you can treat me so disrespectfully?” he struck up a conversation with me about another book on the silent auction block, a biography of poet Edgar Lee Masters, who once was Clarence Darrow’s law partner, and about a print of an early Illinois governor, John Peter Altgeld.
Dreyfuss really just seemed to be enjoying hanging out, being a regular person, looking at the same type of auction items you might see at any central Illinois fundraiser, except perhaps that the Lincoln and Illinois history themes were a bit more prevalent.
Lincoln Seen and Heard – and Dreyfuss honored
I met Dreyfuss at the March 27th silent auction and banquet for the Illinois State Historical Society’s 2009 Illinois History Symposium, “Abraham Lincoln in Ante-bellum Illinois, 1830-1861,” at Illinois College in Jacksonville (Ill.).
Dreyfuss was there to do a dramatic reading of “Lincoln Seen and Heard” with Lincoln scholar and U.S. Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial co-chair, Harold Holzer.
The production is a powerful work, created by Holzer. It uses images of Lincoln taken before his significant speeches and Lincoln’s words, with Holzer’s narrative to cement the two. Dreyfuss was powerful as he read Lincoln’s speeches, while Holzer’s soft-spoken narrative was as comforting as a favorite teacher lovingly reading a classic children’s book to a room full of fourth-graders in an old brick elementary school.
The evening began with a magnificent concert about which I’ll be sure to tell you later (when I find the program) and ended with Dreyfuss being awarded an honorary doctorate from Illinois College.
I’ve been a proud observer of such moments before – especially, when watching my daughters receive their diplomas - yet watching the excitement Dreyfuss felt as he received his robe, mortarboard and stole was pretty cool, too.
And getting my photo taken with him and Holzer was even cooler. Most of the other people were getting their photos taken with just Dreyfuss, but as I explained to the actor, I’m a Holzer groupie, too. After all, Holzer’s the quintessential Lincoln buff, and one who always inspires me to learn and share more about Lincoln, too.
A fond farewell
My final words to Dreyfuss may have seemed as silly as my first. As I got ready to walk away, I gave him a hug and said, “I’m proud of you.”
Why? Because I know what it feels like to wear that mortar board and toss that tassel late in life. I got my first degree when I was 41 and I’ll never forget looking up as I walked back from the stage and saw the pride in my parents’ faces.
Proud of someone for an honorary degree, you wonder? You bet!
Richard Dreyfuss has spent decades entertaining generations of Americans and today he’s spearheading an organization dedicated to making civics curriculum a mainstay* for American students from kindergarten through twelfth grade. I put a lot of hard work into earning my diploma. His path is different, but his distinction is clear. He’s a star student in my book – however you turn the pages.
I met Dreyfuss at the March 27th silent auction and banquet for the Illinois State Historical Society’s 2009 Illinois History Symposium, “Abraham Lincoln in Ante-bellum Illinois, 1830-1861,” at Illinois College in Jacksonville (Ill.).
Dreyfuss was there to do a dramatic reading of “Lincoln Seen and Heard” with Lincoln scholar and U.S. Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial co-chair, Harold Holzer.
The production is a powerful work, created by Holzer. It uses images of Lincoln taken before his significant speeches and Lincoln’s words, with Holzer’s narrative to cement the two. Dreyfuss was powerful as he read Lincoln’s speeches, while Holzer’s soft-spoken narrative was as comforting as a favorite teacher lovingly reading a classic children’s book to a room full of fourth-graders in an old brick elementary school.
The evening began with a magnificent concert about which I’ll be sure to tell you later (when I find the program) and ended with Dreyfuss being awarded an honorary doctorate from Illinois College.
I’ve been a proud observer of such moments before – especially, when watching my daughters receive their diplomas - yet watching the excitement Dreyfuss felt as he received his robe, mortarboard and stole was pretty cool, too.
And getting my photo taken with him and Holzer was even cooler. Most of the other people were getting their photos taken with just Dreyfuss, but as I explained to the actor, I’m a Holzer groupie, too. After all, Holzer’s the quintessential Lincoln buff, and one who always inspires me to learn and share more about Lincoln, too.
A fond farewell
My final words to Dreyfuss may have seemed as silly as my first. As I got ready to walk away, I gave him a hug and said, “I’m proud of you.”
Why? Because I know what it feels like to wear that mortar board and toss that tassel late in life. I got my first degree when I was 41 and I’ll never forget looking up as I walked back from the stage and saw the pride in my parents’ faces.
Proud of someone for an honorary degree, you wonder? You bet!
Richard Dreyfuss has spent decades entertaining generations of Americans and today he’s spearheading an organization dedicated to making civics curriculum a mainstay* for American students from kindergarten through twelfth grade. I put a lot of hard work into earning my diploma. His path is different, but his distinction is clear. He’s a star student in my book – however you turn the pages.
* I’ll be writing about this effort in a future blog post. But first, I have to get the information from Dreyfuss. With the enthusiasm he feels for this, I don’t think the task will be too difficult.
© Copyright 2009 Ann Tracy Mueller. All rights reserved.
Monday, March 30, 2009
More on the 29th Annual Illinois History Symposium
Last week, I attended the Illinois History Symposium, “Abraham Lincoln in Ante-bellum Illinois: 1831-1860.” In an earlier blog post, I shared my report of the first day’s events. Now, I’ll move on to tell you about some of the ones I made it to on Friday, March 27, 2009.
The day started with rain, which convinced me I’d rather use my time to blog about Thursday’s events than take the walking tour of the Illinois College (IC) campus. Don’t get me wrong – Illinois College has a beautiful campus, with a nice mix of buildings of many different ages and architectural types, from Beecher Hall, where the first college class in Illinois was held, to the state of the art Bruner Center, with its indoor track and athletic facilities. I just decided to do otherwise.
So I got my cardio-strength workout as a guest at a local fitness center, went back to the room to get ready for the day and blogged. My first session was at 10 a.m., this time in a book-lined room on the second (and top) floor of Beecher Hall, a room we were assured the students had “cleaned up” for us.
I think it took most of us boomers and older back in time, with its well-worn 1960-something Early American couches and rich old wooden armchairs - on wheels. It seemed fitting that when Lincoln scholar Michael Burlingame arrived, he settled into one of the couches. My guess is that it’s not the first such room this retired professor has occupied, nor the first piece of sagging furniture which has molded itself around him.
Lecture topics hold surprises
The first paper was presented by Joe Ashbrook, a Mt. Vernon (Ill.) native and independent scholar who retired from teaching in the same schools he once attended. Ashbrook’s paper about Abraham Lincoln in Jefferson County disclosed new information about a Jefferson County trial in which Lincoln represented the Illinois Central Railroad. He seemed to leave no stone unturned in his research and may very well have proven that this trial was one of Lincoln’s most important, if not the most important.
Because I hope to someday do further work on Lincoln and the railroads myself, I found this talk and his revelation of particular interest. I just wish I had the time to dig in now and start the Lincoln work I long to someday do.
The second paper of the day was presented by my fellow Bloomington (Ill.) Lincoln buff, Guy Fraker. Fraker’s paper was on Abraham Lincoln in Edgar County. Guy is the guy on Lincoln and the Eighth Judicial Circuit, and I can’t wait until his book on the topic comes out. On Friday, though, his talk took us somewhere I hadn’t yet been - to Paris (Illinois, that is). As usual, Fraker educated and entertained. Even though we were all looking forward to our luncheon program speaker, Burlingame, we hated to see the session with Ashbrook and Fraker end.
This session was moderated by Bill Kemp of the McLean County Museum of History, with commentary by James Cornelius, Lincoln Curator of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum (ALPLM). I saw a new side of both of these men – and I liked it.
I’ve been around Bill Kemp some, but not enough. He had just accepted the job as the archivist about the time I stopped volunteering in the museum library to attend to more pressing family obligations. I learned Friday that Kemp is a very engaging speaker himself – and interjects just the right amount of humor. I’m looking forward to getting to know him better, as I begin my Lincoln-related research in earnest late next year. I know the museum will be an invaluable repository of information I’ll need.
I met James Cornelius during bicentennial week – surely the most important time for him since he began working at the museum in 2007. He was busy most of the time – and working hard to make sure the events at the ALPLM went smoothly. Nonetheless, he never flinched.
Watching him prepare his commentary and hearing him deliver it was a real treat. I couldn’t help but wonder if Cornelius had ever been a Toastmaster. If not, he ought to join. I think he could win the evaluation contest hands down. He nailed it on Friday!
Burlingame and more when we return
I’ll be back some other days with more on the remaining symposium events, including:
The day started with rain, which convinced me I’d rather use my time to blog about Thursday’s events than take the walking tour of the Illinois College (IC) campus. Don’t get me wrong – Illinois College has a beautiful campus, with a nice mix of buildings of many different ages and architectural types, from Beecher Hall, where the first college class in Illinois was held, to the state of the art Bruner Center, with its indoor track and athletic facilities. I just decided to do otherwise.
So I got my cardio-strength workout as a guest at a local fitness center, went back to the room to get ready for the day and blogged. My first session was at 10 a.m., this time in a book-lined room on the second (and top) floor of Beecher Hall, a room we were assured the students had “cleaned up” for us.
I think it took most of us boomers and older back in time, with its well-worn 1960-something Early American couches and rich old wooden armchairs - on wheels. It seemed fitting that when Lincoln scholar Michael Burlingame arrived, he settled into one of the couches. My guess is that it’s not the first such room this retired professor has occupied, nor the first piece of sagging furniture which has molded itself around him.
Lecture topics hold surprises
The first paper was presented by Joe Ashbrook, a Mt. Vernon (Ill.) native and independent scholar who retired from teaching in the same schools he once attended. Ashbrook’s paper about Abraham Lincoln in Jefferson County disclosed new information about a Jefferson County trial in which Lincoln represented the Illinois Central Railroad. He seemed to leave no stone unturned in his research and may very well have proven that this trial was one of Lincoln’s most important, if not the most important.
Because I hope to someday do further work on Lincoln and the railroads myself, I found this talk and his revelation of particular interest. I just wish I had the time to dig in now and start the Lincoln work I long to someday do.
The second paper of the day was presented by my fellow Bloomington (Ill.) Lincoln buff, Guy Fraker. Fraker’s paper was on Abraham Lincoln in Edgar County. Guy is the guy on Lincoln and the Eighth Judicial Circuit, and I can’t wait until his book on the topic comes out. On Friday, though, his talk took us somewhere I hadn’t yet been - to Paris (Illinois, that is). As usual, Fraker educated and entertained. Even though we were all looking forward to our luncheon program speaker, Burlingame, we hated to see the session with Ashbrook and Fraker end.
This session was moderated by Bill Kemp of the McLean County Museum of History, with commentary by James Cornelius, Lincoln Curator of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum (ALPLM). I saw a new side of both of these men – and I liked it.
I’ve been around Bill Kemp some, but not enough. He had just accepted the job as the archivist about the time I stopped volunteering in the museum library to attend to more pressing family obligations. I learned Friday that Kemp is a very engaging speaker himself – and interjects just the right amount of humor. I’m looking forward to getting to know him better, as I begin my Lincoln-related research in earnest late next year. I know the museum will be an invaluable repository of information I’ll need.
I met James Cornelius during bicentennial week – surely the most important time for him since he began working at the museum in 2007. He was busy most of the time – and working hard to make sure the events at the ALPLM went smoothly. Nonetheless, he never flinched.
Watching him prepare his commentary and hearing him deliver it was a real treat. I couldn’t help but wonder if Cornelius had ever been a Toastmaster. If not, he ought to join. I think he could win the evaluation contest hands down. He nailed it on Friday!
Burlingame and more when we return
I’ll be back some other days with more on the remaining symposium events, including:
- Michael Burlingame’s luncheon talk
- Poetry readings with Dan Guillory and Martha Vertreace-Doody
- My absent-minded moment
- Harold Holzer and Richard Dreyfuss in “Lincoln Seen and Heard,” preceded by some phenomenal Illinois College musical talent
- A breakfast talk by Mark E. Steiner on the Lincoln lawyer theme
- Papers presented by Samuel Wheeler and Raymond Lohne
- An invaluable session about writing for the Illinois State Historical Society Journal
- Papers on Lincoln and the “Blue Mass” (mercury) remedy and on traveling salesmen in Illinois
- A visit to Woodlawn Farm, a stop on the Underground Railroad
Watch for more on these topics and on some of the interesting people I met this week as I have time to share.
Friday, March 27, 2009
Congratulations, Dr. Dreyfuss
There are times in life when you know you're in the right place at the right time, times when you experience something so magnificent and exciting you can think of no place you'd rather be - and you can't stop smiling when you think of it.Seeing Richard Dreyfuss awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Illinois College in Jacksonville (Ill.) was one of those moments. Dreyfuss was in town for the 29th Annual Illinois History Symposium, "Lincoln in Antebellum Illinois: 1831-1860." Together, Dreyfuss and my favorite Lincoln scholar, Harold Holzer, presented "Lincoln Seen and Heard," a magnificent work which blends Lincoln images with Holzer's well-crafted narrative, as well as Lincoln's own words.
Anytime you can see Holzer present you know you're in for a treat, and the same is certainly true of any time Dreyfuss performs. Put the two together and you've got a dynamite show. I'll tell you more about the performance in a future post.
The one thing I want to share tonight before I fall asleep on my keyboard is how excited Dreyfuss was to receive this degree. I truly believe it meant the world to him. Witnessing his excitement made me almost as happy for him as I was upon receiving my own college degree at age 41.
You know, it was strange. I've admired this man's work for decades, yet meeting him tonight for the first time, he didn't come across as some great, unreachable movie star. He was warm, accomodating, appreciative of his fans and thankful for the honor he'd received. It was really cool to be there to experience his special moment.
So, I have to say it again: "Congratulations, Dr. Dreyfuss! I'm happy for you." Ann
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