‘. . . Places I’ll remember’

Students
This pretty girl was a member of a class at  which Reg spoke about Abraham Lincoln, Douglas, and Illinois Gov. Arthur C. French. The school was the Gov. French Academy in Belleville.

The Battle of Shiloh
This group of Quincy, Illinois, Junior High School students was fascinated by the 365-day pocket diary of Union Private Edward Warden, who, slightly older than they,  was at the Civil War Battle of Shiloh. In his diary, the 18-year-old Warden described the body-strewn battlefield at Shiloh “. . .horribal beyond description.”

Book Signing
Reg inscribes a book after a talk about Stephen Douglas and Southern Illinois at the Herrin City Library.

Reenactments
At the 176-year-old Woodland Cemetery in Quincy, Reg reenacts 19th century Democratic politician William Alexander Richardson, who followed Douglas to Congress in 1847 and to the U.S. Senate in 1863.

Lincoln Library
Reg in what he calls his Lincoln Library.

Here Douglas Learned
At Our Town Books in Jacksonville, at nearly the same spot that his admirers in 1834 awarded Douglas the name “Little Giant,” Reg speaks about the importance of Jacksonville in the development of Douglas's cultural, legal, political, and social  education.

Passion
Preferring to speak extemporaneously, Reg brings a certain passion to all of his talks and enjoys conversations with his audiences.

Slave State, Slave Nation

An expert on slavery in early Illinois, Reg talks about Illinois’ attempt to enter the Union a slave state in 1818. Thwarted in the effort then, the southern-dominated Illinois General Assembly tried again in a referendum in 1824. The state’s voters turned slavery down. But the stain of racism and slavery in Illinois did not end there.

The Beatles, “In My Life,” 1965.