CARLINVILLE - A pair of Carlinville men have received an award from the Illinois State Historical Society for a ground-breaking study of the state’s oldest public institution of higher learning.
Tom Emery and Carl Kasten earned the Certificate of Merit for Abraham Lincoln and the Heritage of Illinois State University, a comprehensive 288-page volume on the sixteenth President’s many connections to the school. The book has won rave reviews from some of the leading names in Lincoln research.
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The award was presented at the ISHS’ Best of Illinois History awards banquet in Springfield on April 9.
Lincoln spent ample time in Bloomington, and had numerous political supporters there. He served as attorney to the state Board of Education, which oversaw Illinois State in its earliest days, and prepared various documents, including the guaranty to secure funding for the university. In doing so, Lincoln ensured that the university would be located in Bloomington-Normal.
He also had close ties to the early financial backers and faculty members of Illinois State, as well as several members of the early Boards of Education. In addition, Lincoln delivered his legendary “Lost Speech” at the first Republican State Convention in 1856 at Major’s Hall, the site of the first classes at Illinois State after the university’s founding a year later.
The university’s leaders were loyal to Lincoln, and ISU students famously drilled on campus in preparation to become Union soldiers in the Civil War.
The beautiful Illinois State Quad was designed by William Saunders, a foremost landscape architect who is also credited with Oak Ridge Cemetery, where Lincoln rests, and Gettysburg National Cemetery, the site of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address.
The project was launched by Kasten, a 1966 ISU graduate who chaired the university’s board of trustees from 2003-08. It is the fifteenth career award from the ISHS for Emery, who has previously earned honors for his book titles, newspaper columns, speaking programs, and exhibitions.
Dr. Wayne Temple of Springfield, who has been called the “greatest living Lincoln scholar,” labeled the study as “monumental.” Kathryn Harris, the well-respected former director of library services at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, lauded Emery’s research, attention to detail, and clear writing style.
Copies of the book are still available at 217-854-3616 or carlkasten@frontiernet.net.
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