All Titles

Springfield became the capital of Illinois due in large part to Abraham Lincoln—lawyer, politician, and president. Lincoln lived in Springfield from 1837 to 1861, and during the decade after his departure, the African American population in the city quadrupled. Although Springfield was dominated by railroads, coal mines, and government, African Americans also worked as doctors, dentists, lawyers, professors, politicians, public school teachers, firemen, insurance agents, entrepreneurs, soldiers, military officers, police officers, state troopers, artists, inventors, secretaries, cooks, laborers, car salesmen, and church leaders. After the Springfield Race Riot of 1908, the city became less welcoming for African Americans. Shortly after, however, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the National Urban League were formed. Further gains under Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s leadership were made during the civil rights movement.

Examine the inflection points in Chicago's history of protest. A word packed with meaning and emotion, "protest" can be synonymous with both free speech and rioting. Chicago's citizens and city officials have a long and reactive relationship based on the tension between those differences of perspective, from the 1855 Lager Beer Riot to the conversation surrounding Black Lives Matter and the flashpoints of extreme political polarization. But what led to pivotal events like 1886's Haymarket Affair or 1963's massive school boycotts? Joseph Rulli seeks to understand what provoked an explosion into violence or elicited a heavy-handed response.

Never before has there been a published record that identifies the Black settlements in each of the lower sixteen counties of Southern Illinois. Few are aware of this legacy, which dates back to the early founding of the Illinois territory, but these communities are an essential part of the region's heritage. Author Kimberly France identifies these historic institutions by the pillars that anchored them. She describes how Black settlement began, how it ended and the untold history that lies between.