Thursday, March 26, noon, Cummings Dining Hall, Illinois College

Dr. Wayne C. Temple, “dean of the Lincoln scholars” and author of nine books and dozens of articles about Lincoln, will speak on the topic, “The Tomb that Never Was: The Story of the Original Lincoln Tomb in Downtown Springfield.” Deputy Director of the Illinois State Archives, Dr. Temple was the editor of Lincoln Herald for 15 years. His books include Abraham Lincoln: from Skeptic to Prophet; By Square and Compass: Saga of the Lincoln Home; The Taste is in My Mouth a Little… Lincoln’s Victuals and Potables; and most recently Lincoln’s Travels on the River Queen During the Last Days of his Life.

Friday, March 27, noon, Cummings Dining Hall, Illinois College

Dr. Michael Burlingame, author of Abraham Lincoln: A Life (Johns Hopkins University Press), will speak on the topic, “Lincoln’s Public and Private Lives: New Information, Fresh Perspectives.” Dr. Burlingame is the Sadowski Professor of History Emeritus at Connecticut College and author of The Inner World of Abraham Lincoln and editor of 10 volumes of primary sources about Lincoln. He received the prestigious Lincoln Prize, honorable mention, for his five edited collections of letters, memoranda, editorial essays, lectures and interviews by Lincoln’s private secretaries, John G. Nicolay and John Hall.

Saturday, March 28, 7:30 a.m., Hamilton’s Banquet Hall, 110 N. East Street, Jacksonville

Dr. Mark E. Steiner, professor of law at South Texas School of Law, will speak on “Has the Lincoln Lawyer Theme Been Exhausted?” Dr. Steiner is the author of An Honest Calling: The Law Practice of Abraham Lincoln, named “Best of the Best” for 2007 by the Association of American University Presses and awarded a “Superior Achievement” by the Illinois State Historical Society. A former associate editor of the Lincoln Legal Papers, Dr. Steiner teaches American Legal History and Consumer Transactions at South Texas College of Law. Steiner’s efforts in teaching citizenship classes to immigrants seeking naturalization were recently recognized by the USA Freedom Corps.

Complete details on the Illinois State Historical Society Symposium, “Abraham Lincoln in Ante-bellum Illinois: 1830- 1861,” can be found at www.historyillinois.org.

The event will feature more than 70 scholars from across the state and nation who will share their research and knowledge on the Underground Railroad, abolitionism, Lincoln’s law practice and his political career in Illinois.