QLBC Announced

Leaders of Illinois’ efforts to celebrate next year’s Lincoln-Douglas Debates and the Bicentennial of Lincoln’s birth in 2009 in Quincy Thursday, October 11, praised the community’s work to illuminate the strong Quincy ties of the two 19th century political giants.

“Quincy is setting the pace,” said Nikki Stratton, head of the state’s Looking for Lincoln Heritage Coalition, Springfield. “The strength of your plans for programs to celebrate, educate and commemorate these great men and their times in Quincy are so exciting to us.”

        Stratton was in Quincy with Kay Smith, chair of the Illinois Bicentennial Commission, and Bryon Andreasen, a Lincoln historian with the Lincoln Presidential Library assisting the Legacy and Bicentennial projects.

        The state officials participated in an announcement by the Quincy Bicentennial Commission that it will redevelop the Lincoln Douglas Debate site in the city’s Washington Park downtown.

        It was from a platform on the east side of the Quincy square that Lincoln and Douglas on October 13, 1858, debated the morality and constitutionality of slavery. Douglas was reelected United States Senator, but the strength of Lincoln’s speech helped carry him in 1860 to the presidency.

Chuck Scholz, chairman of Quincy’s Bicentennial Commission, reported donors already had contributed more than 60 percent of the commission’s $500,000 goal to fund the renewal of the debate site, 21 story boards to help tell the stories of Lincoln and Douglas ties to Quincy and several related events over the next two years.

Quincy Mayor John Spring noted that Quincy 149 years ago was preparing to host Lincoln and Douglas in their sixth debate and a crowd of 12,000 people who gathered in Washington Park to hear them.

“These anniversaries in 2008 and 2009 will be celebrated nationwide – even worldwide,” Spring said, “but it was here in Illinois that the real stories of Lincoln and Douglas unfolded. . .in places like Quincy and Adams County, not just in courtrooms and law offices, but in the homes of their many friends in Western Illinois. It is up to us to see that these stories are not forgotten.”

The Quincy Park District’s Board, which administers Washington Park, has reviewed redevelopment plans. The proposed site improvements can be viewed by clicking here.

Leaders Reveal Plans to Celebrate Lincoln, Douglas Legacy

Mayor John Spring and Quincy Bicentennial Chair Chuck Scholz prepare to announce local plans to celebrate ties to Quincy of President Lincoln, U.S. Senator Stephen A. Douglas.

State officials included a stop at the Historical Society of Quincy and Adams County. Shown are Bryon Andreasen of the Lincoln Presidential Museum, Looking for Lincoln Director Nikki Stratton and Kay Smith, Illinois Bicentennial Commission chair. At left is Quincy Bicentennial Commissioner Kathy Anastas.

The celebrations will begin February 2 with a Lincoln-Douglas Debate Symposium entitled “The Turning Point.” John Wood Community College will host the day-long event, which will feature Dr. Orville Vernon Burton, whose book The Age of Lincoln was published earlier this year.

In October, Quincy will host a three-day “Reunion Tour,” during which historical interpreters George Buss and Tim Connors will portray Lincoln and Douglas. The historians will help the city dedicate the new debate plaza in Washington Park and participate in school programs, concerts and other events.

The commission is working to establish a permanent interpretive center near Washington Park.

Statewide Looking for Lincoln executive Nikki Stratton congratulates Quincy for Lincoln-Douglas Legacy efforts.

Mayor John Spring notes the importance of Quincy’s contributions to the nation’s history through the personal relationships earlier generations of Quincy residents had with Lincoln and Douglas.