Illinois History

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"As our teachers and students plan ahead, many will be exploring the themes of Illinois History magazine. Writing for their state magazine opens many opportunities for students to learn about Illinois more thoroughly. They find out how they think about something as they share resources, read, write, and reflect. Eventually, students build writing fluency while composing their thoughts and feelings. Their commitment to themselves and their teachers becomes an inspiration to all, often rejoicing in their triumphs."

-- Stephanie Garcia, Junior High School Language Arts teacher, All Saints Academy, Breese, Illinois

2008-2009 ILLINOIS HISTORY Topics

January––Women in Illinois History

Deadline:  October 31, 2008

Women have been essential in Illinois’ past and yet scholars continue learning more about them as time passes.  Discovery is an adventure that never ends.  Jane Addams, Ida B. Wells, Fannie Barrier Williams, Mary Harris “Mother” Jones, and Myra Bradwell: these are among the best known Illinois women.  Do you know them?  Are you aware of others we should remember?  Write a biography about one of the above or one of the little known women in Illinois history,   What did they achieve that set them apart?  Who helped them accomplish what they did?  What were the origins of their distinctive ideas?

Women, of curse, have contributed significantly to such movements as organized labor, civil rights–including voting reform, and pioneer settlement.  Pick one of these broad movements and explain what women especially contributed.

Do not select women still living or their contribution to movements still underway.

Some sources you could use for your research paper:

Jane Addams, Twenty Years at Hull House (first published in 1910).

Elliott Gorn, Mother Jones: The Most Dangerous Woman in America (New York: Hill and Wang, 2001).

Alfreda M. Duster, ed., Ida B. Wells-Barnett, Crusader for Justice: The Autobiography of Ida B. Wells (1970).  Alfreda M. Duster was the daughter of Ida B. Well-Barnett.

February––Abraham Lincoln

Deadline: November 28, 2008

This is the year of the Lincoln Bicentennial, named for the two hundredth anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s birth (February 12, 1809).  Perhaps no American is more revered inside and outside of the United States than Lincoln.  Unquestionably, Lincoln was a great figure but he has been both forgotten for some things he did and overestimated for what he accomplished.  What role did he play in the single term he held in the U.S. Congress (1847-1849)?  Was he an abolitionist or not?  What were his considerations behind the Emancipation Proclamation?  These are not the only topics that can be covered.  In fact, topics are numerous for Lincoln.  Write on one topic only.

Some sources you could use to research your paper: 

Benjamin Thomas and Michael Burlingame, ed., Lincoln’s Humor and Other Essays (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2006).

Paul Simon, Lincoln’s Preparation for Greatness (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1971).

Benjamin Thomas, Abraham Lincoln: A Biography (1952).

Note: These are only a very few suggestions.  The Lincoln literature is vast and, in itself, an indication of Lincoln’s stature.

April––Local Historical Societies and Local Historical Museums

Deadline: February 28, 2009

Write a history of your local history museum or local historical society.  These societies and museums hold a wealth of fascinating information about why present conditions prevail in your town, city, and county.  Be sure you visit the museum and interview the director or curator about the collection.  Ask to use the museum or historical society’s files to write the history.  What is especially distinctive about the collection in the museum?  Who contributed the unique collections?  Are there any challenges the museum or historical society has faced?  How have they been overcome?

Where is your local historical society or museum? 
Check this Web site of the Illinois Association of Museums
www.illinoismuseums.org, then click on “Find a Museum”.

Some sources to get students thinking about the good things that museums do:

Thomas Baum, It Looks Alive To Me (New York: Harper and Row, 1976).

Katherine Grier, Discover: Investigate the Mysteries of History (Reading: Addison-Wesley, 1989)

Marjorie Schwarzer, Riches, Rivals, and Radicals: 100 Years of Museums in America (Washington, D. C.: American Association of Museums, 2006).

Alvin Schwartz, Museum: The Story of America’s Treasure House (New York: E. P. Dutton, 1967).

Requirements for the paper

1. Articles should be no less than 500 words but no more than a 1000 words long.
2. At the end of your article, include a bibliography of works used. Refer to the MLA or the style guide by the University of Chicago Press. Be sure your format gives the author’s name, full title of the work, place of publication, the press, and date of publication. For periodicals, be sure the volume and year of publication is included.
3. Web site citations must include
(a) name of the organization posting the Web site;
(b) Web site address; and
(c) Month, day, and year you accessed the Web site
Keep to this example:
The Organization of American History, “Finding Out About Our Past,”
<www.AmHist.org> (Ap. 3, 2007).
4. Have your teacher read and correct details about the 3 points above before submitting your final draft for consideration to the following address:

Keith A. Sculle
Illinois Historic Preservation Agency
Old State Capitol
Springfield, IL 62701

Call or email, if you have questions. We are glad to help:
(217) 785-6916
Email: keith.sculle@illinois.gov

If possible, submit your paper in Word or Word Perfect on a floppy disk. If you cannot, do not worry. However, always be sure to send a good printed copy.

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