The Conference on Illinois History—now in its seventh year—is the state’s largest meeting devoted to the history of the Prairie State. More than two hundred fifty attended the 2004 conference, which featured traditional academic papers, local history studies, teacher workshops, and roundtable discussions.

This year’s luncheon and dinner speakers (pre-registration required by October 21, 2005):

CARL J. EKBERG, Professor Emeritus of History, Illinois State University
Ekberg, an expert on the French in colonial Illinois, has written the award-winning books French Roots in the Illinois Country: The Mississippi Frontier in Colonial Times; François Valle and His World: Upper Louisiana before Lewis and Clark; and Colonial Ste. Genevieve: An Adventure on the Mississippi Frontier. His presentation will be on French-ness and Indian-ness in Illinois.

DARROCH GREER, Documentary film-maker and historical researcher
Greer researched the casualty figures for “The Civil War in Four Minutes,” one of the exhibits in the new Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum in Springfield. He has written, produced, and directed documentaries for PBS, Discovery Channel, History Channel, and VH1. He will discuss the development of “The Civil War in Four Minutes.”

EDNA GREENE MEDFORD, Associate Professor of History, Howard University
Medford is a nationally recognized scholar and frequent lecturer on African Americans in Slavery and freedom. As a member of the Scholars Advisory Board for the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, she participated in discussions for planning the museum’s content. She is also a member of the Advisory Committee for the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission. Medford will speak on blacks’ perceptions of emancipation.