Perhaps it is the excitement caused by seeing the Lincoln portrait that we hope to help the Illinois State Historical Society hang in a courthouse in every Illinois County and being named by Illinois Judges’ Association President Coady to co-chair the IJA Bicentennial committee with Justice Michael Hyman. Or perhaps it is because I live in the same county as one of the Lincoln-Douglas debate venues (Alton IL is in Madison County). Whatever the reason, this history nerd is pretty excited about all the bicentennial information that is available during this year.

For instance, have you noticed the State of Illinois seals that hang in our courtrooms say August 26, 1818? But if one checks, Illinois actually became a state on December 3, 1818. So what gives? Fun fact: Illinois’ first constitution was signed on August 26, 1818. Shortly thereafter, on December 3, 1818, President James Monroe signed the congressional resolution making Illinois the 21st state. So the Seal in our courtrooms celebrates the first constitution (our rule of law), but the bicentennial date that actually marks our statehood is December 3rd.

But I digress. All of you have the ability to learn fun bicentennial facts throughout the year and the point of this article is to tell you how. The State of Illinois has a bicentennial website at Illinois200@illinois.gov. The Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield is also the state’s official historical library. It has documents, newspapers, photographs and artifacts that tell the story of Illinois. www.illinois.gov/alplm/. And of course Lincoln is not the only President we have had with ties to Illinois. The museum will have a special exhibit from March 23, 2018 through December 31, 2018 called “From Illinois to the White House: Lincoln, Grant, Reagan, Obama” located in the Illinois Gallery in the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum. This exhibit is one of the centerpieces of the commemoration of the Illinois Bicentennial. It will feature the ties these four presidents have to Illinois and discuss how Illinois’ history, location and population make it a training ground for national leaders.

The Illinois State Museum, also in Springfield, hosts an Illinois Legacy Collection that includes more than 13.5 million objects documenting Illinois’ life, land, people and art from 500 million years ago to today. Learn more about it at www.illinoisstatemuseum.org.

Finally, “Bicentennial Minutes” started airing January 1st. Each day, take a minute and listen about a person, place or story from Illinois history. Bicentennial minutes may be available on your local radio stations or you can access them through www.wmay.com/Illinois200.

Please take these opportunities to not only learn more about Illinois during its bicentennial but think about having some fun with the information. Courtroom quizzes or fun facts to share as you attend events around your community should be something everyone can do. And please, attend the ceremony for the Lincoln portrait at your local courthouse or the one in some other county to help show that lawyers and judges are actively participating in the Bicentennial. We are the 3rd branch of state government, after all. 