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AN APPEAL TO THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY AND THE GENERAL PUBLIC.

Objects of Collection Desired by the Illinois State Historical Library and Society.

(MEMBERS PLEASE READ THIS CIRCULAR LETTER.)

Books and pamphlets on American history, biography, and genealogy, particularly those relating to Illinois and the West; works on Indian tribes, and American archeology and ethnology; reports of societies and institutions of every kind, educational, economic, social; scientific publications of states or societies; books or pamphlets, relating to all wars in which Illinois has taken part, especially collections of material relating to the great world war and the wars with Indians; privately printed works; newspapers; maps and charts; engravings, photographs; autographs; coins, antiques, encyclopedias, dictionaries, and bibliographical works. Especially do we desire

EVERYTHING RELATING TO ILLINOIS.

1. Every book or pamphlet on any subject relating to Illinois, or any part of it; also every book or pamphlet written by an Illinois citizen, whether published in Illinois or elsewhere; materials for Illinois history; old letters, journals.

2. Manuscripts; narratives of the pioneers of Illinois; original papers on the early history and settlement of the territory; adventures and conflicts during the early settlement, the Indian troubles, or the great rebellion or other wars, biographies of the pioneers; prominent citizens and public men of every county, either living or deceased, together with their portraits and autographs; a sketch of the settlements of every township, village, and neighborhood in the State, with the names of the first settlers. We solicit articles on every subject connected with Illinois history.

3. City ordinances, proceedings of mayor and council; reports of committees of council; pamphlets or papers of any kind printed by authority of the city; reports of boards of trade and commercial associations; maps of cities and plats of town sites or of additions thereto.

4. Pamphlets of all kinds; annual reports of societies, sermons or addresses delivered in the State; minutes of church conventions,

synods, or other ecclesiastical bodies of Illinois; political addresses; railroad reports; all such, whether published in pamphlet or newspaper.

5. Catalogues and reports of colleges and other institutions of learning; annual or other reports of school boards, school superintendents, and school committees; educational pamphlets, programs and papers of every kind, no matter how small or apparently unimportant.

6. Copies of the earlier laws, journals and reports of our territorial and State Legislatures; earlier Governors' messages and reports of State Officers; reports of State charitable and other State institutions.

7. Files of Illinois newspapers and magazines, especially complete volumes of past years, or single numbers even. Publishers are earnestly requested to contribute their publications regularly, all of which will be carefully preserved and bound.

8. Maps of the State, or of counties or townships, of any date; views and engravings of buildings or historic places; drawings or photographs of scenery; paintings; portraits, etc., connected with Illinois history.

9. Curiosities of all kinds; coins, medals, paintings; portraits; engravings; statuary; war relics; autograph letters of distinguished persons, etc.

10. Facts illustrative of our Indian tribes-their history, characteristics, religion, etc., sketches of prominent chiefs, orators and warriors together with contributions of Indian weapons, costumes, ornaments, curiosities, and implements; also stone axes, spears, arrow heads, pottery, or other relics.

It is important that the work of collecting historical material in regard to the part taken by Illinois in the great war be done immediately before valuable material is lost or destroyed.

In brief, everything that, by the most liberal construction, can illustrate the history of Illinois, its early settlement, its progress, or present condition. All will be of interest to succeeding generations. Contributions will be credited to the donors in the published reports of the Library and Society, and will be carefully preserved as the property of the State, for the use and benefit of the people for all time.

Your attention is called to the important duty of collecting and preserving everything relating to the part taken by the State of Illinois in the great world war.

Secretary.

Communications or gifts may be addressed to the Librarian and (MRS.) JESSIE PALMER WEBER.

GREAT DATES AND DEEDS OF ILLINOIS.

(An address by Dr. Frederick F. Shannon, before the State Historical Society at Springfield, Ill., Dec. 3, 1923, and repeated before the Chicago Historical Society, Dec. 4, 1923.)

Great dates and deeds in the history of Illinois disclose the unfolding of a vast and thrilling drama. The very name, Illinois, is beautifully significant. It comes from an old Indian word meaning "Man." Any study, therefore, of this great commonwealth must keep at its center that which is central-manhood and womanhood. Moreover, any adequate appraisal of Illinois must include centuries of time, various nations, antagonistic forces, desperate struggles, undying heroisms, dastardly treacheries, golden loyalties, patient endurance, and daring achievement realized through unconquerable faith in God. Indeed, as the student mediates upon the moving story of Illinois and undertakes to weave its varied threads into a connectel whole, he at once faces genuine embarrassment through manifold riches of material. Who can possess and ponder the Centennial History of Illinois, with its brilliant scholarship, with its vivid and accurate recital of facts, and its splendid achievement in artistic book-making, without a feeling of profound gratitude to the Centennial Commission, and to the eminent historians who have placed this wealth at his disposal? These six volumes should be in every home, every school, and every church in the State.

My purpose is a simple one. I propose to recall some of the significant dates and deeds of the four centuries which have gone into the making of our Commonwealth. To the superficial observer these periods may seem quite remote, having little to do with the matter in hand; but to the student of history they are all wonderfully related, each sustaining a

vital part to every other, and the whole so perfectly bound together as to make one stand in a kind of awe and exclaim: "What hath God wrought!"

I.

Consider, first, the seventeenth century in the history of Illinois. I regard 1637 a great date for the calendar; for in that year Jacques Marquette was born in Laon, France. Add to 1637 the year 1645 and you have a set of twin dates whose lusty doings Illinois shall never hear the end of; for in 1645 Louis Joliet was born at Quebec. These two-the good priest and the great explorer-seem to symbolize the spirit of adventure and daring which still haunts this mighty midwestern empire. Of the priest the historian says, in recounting his perilous journeys by land and sea: "The Father had long premeditated this undertaking, influenced by a most ardent desire to extend the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, and to make Him known and adored by all the peoples of that country." Well and nobly did Father Marquette toil, dying at last, as he wished, in the heart of the great woods, whose backward, savage children he loved and served. Joliet is pictured in these words: "He has Courage to dread nothing where everything is to be Feared." Therefore, as he set his face, along with Marquette, toward the Mississippi in 1673, in vain did Indians tell him of monsters and demons waiting to destroy in those wild and trackless regions.

"But," asks the cynic, "what, after all, have these two men to do with the history of Illinois? Were they not merely dreamers and discoverers?" Well, the fact that these two men lingered for a little while at a point on the present site of Chicago makes it impossible for us to forget these identical dreamers and discoverers! Where high souls have encamped an undying fragrance remains. But more than fragrant and inspiring memories abide; these heroes have molded themselves into something tangible and material. What a tribute to these men, as well as to ourselves, that we even name our buildings, our railroads, and our cities after them! "For of

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