speaking engagements & Film Screenings
I am available for school and library presentations or for private gatherings. Please contact me for additional information.
television interview with Mark Maxwell, Capitol Connection, WCIA 3
July 19, 2020
This thirty-two minute interview examines the controversy produced in the summer of 2020 by the statue of Stephen A. Douglas, which had stood on the grounds of the State Capitol in Springfield for over 100 years. Encouraged by Speaker of the House Michael Madigan, who criticized Douglas’ statements on race, the Office of the Architect of the Capitol removed the statue on September 26, 2020. In the interview, Mark Maxwell and I examine Douglas’ career and discuss the political context of antebellum America, including Douglas’ rivalry with Lincoln.
television interview with Carla Knorowski, Chicago tonight, WTTW Channel 11
April 2, 2015
This eleven-minute live broadcast highlights Gettysburg Replies, an innovative book in which 100 authors reply to Lincoln's Gettysburg Address in 272 words-the same number of words in the address. The segment included questions about Lincoln's message, how it was received, its context, and its relevance for the present.
selected Public presentations and Film Screenings
“Advising with Abe: A Life of Resiliency, Purpose, and Hope.” Illinois Association for College Admission Counseling Annual Conference, The Crowne Plaza, Springfield Illinois, April 27, 2023.
“The Triumph of Antislavery Politics.” University of Illinois Springfield Lunch & Learn Series, April 13, 2023.
“Finding the Antislavery Lincoln in Art.” Beverly Arts Center, February 10, 2023; Looking for Lincoln, February 1, 2023; Sangamon County Historical Society, January 17, 2023; and Springfield Art Association, August 31, 2022.
“Lincoln, Race, & Slavery.” Sacred Heart-Griffin High School, March 18, 2022; and Peoria County Bar Association, March 10, 2022.
“Lincoln & Douglas: Touring Illinois,” Museum of the Grand Prairie, October 26, 2021 (Zoom).
“Lincoln and Anti-Slavery,” Beaumont Endowed Lincoln Legacy Lecture Teacher Workshop, University of Illinois Springfield, October 16, 2021.
“Chautauqua: Illinois’ Political Leaders,” Academy of Lifelong Learning, March 18, 2002 (Zoom).
“Community Voices,” NPR Illinois, February 22, 2021.
Film Screening of “Stephen A. Douglas and the Fate of American Democracy,” Civil War Round Table, January 13, 2021 (Zoom).
Film Screening of “Lincoln & Douglas: Touring Illinois in Turbulent Times,” Sangamon CEO high school class of iVenturED, Springfield, Illinois, October 23, 2020 (Zoom).
“Abraham Lincoln and the Making of an Antislavery Nation,” Wepner Distinguished Professor of Lincoln Studies Investiture Address, University of Illinois Springfield, September 24, 2020.
“Death in the Civil War,” Sangamon CEO high school class of iVenturED, Springfield, Illinois, April 17, 2020 (Zoom)
"Why Did Slavery Matter in Illinois? Lincoln, Douglas, and the Nation's Battle over Freedom." Lincoln Legacy Lecture, University of Illinois Springfield, October 18, 2018.
Film screening “Stephen A. Douglas and the Fate of American Democracy” at Evergreen Park Public Library, Evergreen Park, Illinois, May 10, 2018.
Camp Tippecanoe Civil War Round Table, West Lafayette, Indiana, December 12, 2017.
South Suburban Civil War Round Table, Frankfort, Illinois, March 23, 2017.
Film screening of “Stephen A. Douglas and the Fate of American Democracy” at St. Louis University, St. Louis, Missouri, April 18, 2015.
NEH Landmarks for School Teachers program, Springfield, Illinois, June 25 and July 16, 2014
Film screening of “Stephen A. Douglas and the Fate of American Democracy” at the Morgan County Historical Society Annual Meeting, Jacksonville, Illinois, May 13, 2014.
Visualizing the Past: Remembering Stephen A. Douglas in the Age of Ken Burns, Saint Xavier University, April 26, 2014.
Sponsoring scholar for the traveling exhibit Abraham Lincoln: Self-Made in America, Oak Lawn Public Library, August 22, 2012.
Sponsoring scholar for the traveling exhibit Forever Free: Abraham Lincoln's Journey to Emancipation, Frankfort Public Library, May 25, 2011.
NEH Landmarks for School Teachers program, Springfield, Illinois, July 14, 2010.
Lincoln bicentennial presentations at Woodbridge Public Library on January 25 and Evergreen Park High School on February 6, 2009.
Fort Sheridan Chapter of the Reserve Officers Association, Fort Sheridan, Illinois, October 2, 2005.
Constitutional Rights Foundation Chicago and Elgin School District U.46, Springfield, Illinois, May 11, 2005.
Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library & Museum in Springfield, Illinois, April 17, 2005.
Stephen A. Douglas Association Annual Dinner, Chicago, Illinois, June 5, 2004.
Acceptance speech for the Hay-Nicolay Scholars Prize at The Abraham Lincoln Institute Sixth Annual Symposium, Washington, D.C., March 22, 2003.
Selected Presentations And Film Screenings at academic conferences
“Creating with Community.” Midwest Art History Society Conference, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, March 30, 2023.
“Lincoln & Douglas: Touring Illinois in Turbulent Times.” Film Screening at Organization of American Historians Conference, Boston, Massachusetts, April 2022.
“Lincoln & Douglas: Touring Illinois in Turbulent Times.” Film Screening at American Historical Association Conference, New Orleans, Louisiana, January 8, 2022.
“Elijah Lovejoy, Antislavery, and Nationalism.” Midwestern History Conference, May 26, 2021 (presented on Zoom).
“Lincoln & Douglas: Touring Illinois in Turbulent Times.” Film Screening at Illinois State Historical Society Symposium, April 24, 2021 (presented on Zoom).
“Elijah Lovejoy, Antislavery, and Nationalism.” Organization of American Historians Conference, Chicago, Illinois, April 17, 2021 (prerecorded on Zoom).
"100 Years of Publishing Lincoln." Conference on Illinois History, Springfield, Illinois, October 4, 2018.
"Podcasting: History's Future in the Digital Age?" Organization of American Historians Conference, Sacramento, California, April 14, 2018.
"Podcasting Chicago's Sisters: Catherine McAuley and the Sisters of Mercy." Conference on Illinois History, Springfield, Illinois, October 5, 2017.
“Stephen A. Douglas and the Fate of American Democracy.” Film screening at the American Historical Association Conference, Atlanta, Georgia, January 8, 2016.
“Teach and Learn Documentary Filmmaking: How Interdisciplinary Team-Teaching Can Train You and Your Students to Make Historical Documentaries.” American Historical Association Conference, Atlanta, Georgia, January 8, 2016.
“Stephen A. Douglas and the Fate of American Democracy.” Film screening at the Organization of American Historians Conference, St. Louis, Missouri, April 16, 2015.
“Stephen A. Douglas and the Fate of American Democracy.” Film screening at the Conference on Illinois History, Springfield, Illinois, September 25-26, 2014.
Did Voters Cause the Rise and Fall of the Jacksonian Parties? Illinois as a Case Study in Antebellum Politics," University College London Commonwealth Fund Conference, London, England, June 28, 2011.
"Stephen A. Douglas and the Evolution of a Border State Democracy, 1854-1860." British-American Nineteenth Century Historians Conference, Cambridge, England, October 17, 2009.
"Stephen A. Douglas and the Northern Democratic Origins of the Kansas-Nebraska Act." Mid-America Conference on History, Tulsa, Oklahoma, September 27, 2007.
“How Radical Were the Radicals? A New Look at the 1854 Republican Party Convention in Illinois.” Conference on Illinois History, Springfield, Illinois, October 27, 2005.
"Abraham Lincoln and the Triumph of a Northern Antislavery Nationalism." Organization of American Historians Southern Regional Conference, Atlanta, Georgia, July 9, 2004.
"Was Stephen A. Douglas Antislavery?" Second Biennial Stephen A. Douglas History Symposium, Decatur, Illinois, April 28, 2001.
"The Politics of Racist Unionism: Stephen A. Douglas and the Coming of the Civil War." Social Science History Association Conference, Chicago, Illinois, November 19, 1998.
"Ideological Ambiguities in the Whig Embrace of Capitalism and the Flowering of Antislavery Nationalism." Organization of American Historians Conference, Indianapolis, Indiana, April 3, 1998.