Show us how you will commemorate the Civil War
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[ Entries are now being sought for a new on-line calendar that will list events being planned from 2011 to 2015 in Illinois to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Civil War.
The calendar will be officially launched on February 11, 2011 at www.illinoiscivilwar150.org, and until that time those who have an event to submit should visit the site for a printable PDF that must be completed and returned to the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency. Entries for calendar year 2011 must be submitted by November 1, 2010 in order to ensure their placement on the calendar in time for the February 11 launch date.
In addition to the calendar of statewide Civil War related events, the website will include a time line of Illinois and the Civil War; photos and downloadable PDFs; suggestions for further reading; and a monthly feature highlighting a particular historic event or person.
The February 11, 2011 launch date coincides with the official beginning of the nation's Civil War Sesquicentennial observance. That day will feature a special event commemorating the 150th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's Farewell Address as he departed Springfield, Illinois for Washington, DC as president-elect. The calendar will end with the 150th anniversary of Lincoln's internment in Springfield's Oak Ridge Cemetery in May 2015.
The Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, which operates all state-owned historic sites and memorials as well as the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, is developing the on-line calendar in cooperation with Save Illinois History. The Agency's list of Civil War-related sites includes the Presidential Library and Museum; Ulysses S. Grant Home and Elihu Washburne House in Galena; the Stephen A. Douglas Tomb in Chicago; the David Davis Mansion in Bloomington; the Old State Capitol and Lincoln Tomb in Springfield; and Metamora Courthouse. For more information, visit www.illinois-history.gov.