September Meeting

John E. Hallwas, president of the Illinois State Historical Society, will speak about:

The Land and the People Hold Memories

In the spring of 2023, the Illinois State Historical Society launched a statewide project to encourage local historical societies to promote the writing of short memoirs—roughly one to three typed pages—by older residents which reflect their Illinois experience in the post-World War II era (the later 1940s, the 1950s, and the 1960s).

A selection of those will then be published, either in a collection devoted to memoirs of that area within the state (which would be locally funded and sold) or in a series for a local newspaper or a society newsletter. The submitted typescripts will all be donated to, and preserved in, a regional library archives, so that future historians and genealogical researchers can benefit from those writings.

This project is titled The Land and the People Hold Memories, which is a line by Carl Sandburg, from a poem that promotes meaningful belonging through remembered experience.

John will discuss the reasons for the project and how seniors can submit their memoirs.

John’s Bio:  A writer, playwright, speaker, and adult-education leader, John E. Hallwas is Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Western Illinois University.  Well-known for his many books about Illinois and the Midwest, he has also written scores of journal articles and hundreds of newspaper and magazine essays, as well as several plays.  The recipient of more than thirty awards for his teaching, scholarship, books, and educational service, Hallwas has also spoken in well over one hundred Midwestern communities, at colleges, universities, conferences, and organizational events.

A detailed biography and an extensive list of John’s books, videos, plays, and articles are available on his website.

Business meeting will follow.