BYRON – The Byron Forest Preserve District will host a special Illinois bicentennial lecture in cooperation with the Illinois Humanities titled “At the Center of Everything: The Power of Indigenous Illinois in Early America” by Bob Morrissey of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign on Tuesday, June 19, starting at 7 p.m. at the Jarrett Prairie Center Museum in Byron.
The Native people of Illinois are not often regarded as key actors in early American history. In traditional tellings, they are frequently cast as desperate victims, beleaguered peoples whose challenges in the face of colonization were so great as to reduce them quickly to a status of dependency.
Historian Bob Morrissey will tell a new and different story about the Illinois Indians in the colonial period. He will explain how they exploited special opportunities made possible by their location to build power and exercise enormous influence not just in their region, but throughout the Great Lakes and Plains and even in the European power centers of Quebec, Louisiana, and Charleston. By showing Native peoples’ decisions and actions, this presentation will complicate our understanding of the early history of the state and region, challenging tired stereotypes. More importantly, it will examine why the Illinois Country – and particularly the tallgrass prairie environment that the Illinois occupied in the colonial period – was such an important place in early America.
This is a free lecture and no advance registration is required. For more information about this program contact Mark Herman, Superintendent of Education, at the Byron Forest Preserve District 815 234-8535, Ext. 217.
The event will be co-produced by the Illinois Humanities Road Scholars Speakers Bureau, which invites Illinois authors, artists and educators to share their expertise and enthusiasm with people throughout the state, enabling local nonprofit organizations to present free-admission cultural programs to their communities. The current edition of the Road Scholars Speakers Bureau, presented in cooperation with the Illinois Bicentennial Commission and the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, consists of presentations exploring Illinois history and culture in recognition of the state’s 200th anniversary.
About Illinois Humanities. Illinois Humanities strengthens the social, political, and economic fabric of Illinois through constructive conversation and community engagement. Founded in 1974 as the state affiliate of the national Endowment for the Humanities, Illinois Humanities is the only statewide proponent of the public humanities in Illinois. Through public programs, education and training, and grantmaking, we connect Illinoisans who might not otherwise encounter one another.
