NIU Libraries Regional History Center will host the second annual Northern Illinois Regional History Conference on Saturday April 20, 2024 from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Barsema Alumni and Visitors Center on NIU's campus in DeKalb. The conference theme is "Transnational Communities and Global Influences in/on Northern Illinois," and will feature concurrent panel sessions with presentations on a variety of topics and projects related to Northern Illinois' history, heritage, and culture in local and global contexts.
The conference keynote speaker is Dr. Erik S. McDuffie, Associate Professor of History and African American Studies at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, who will examine the global impact of Black Northern Illinois from the late eighteen century to the present. Specifically, McDuffie will discuss African-descended people such as Jean Baptiste Point Du Sable, Ida B. Wells, and Christine Johnson, the historic all-Black municipality of Robbins, Illinois, and movements such as the Nation of Islam and the Black Arts Movement.
Coffee and Refreshments
Welcome and Keynote Introduction
Keynote Address
Session 1
Panel 1A (Ballroom): Settlement and Industry
Panel 1B (Ballroom): Community and Culture
Lunch Break
Session 2
Panel 2A (Ballroom): History in the Built and Natural Environment
Panel 2B (Boardroom): Curating History
Session 3
Panel 3A (Ballroom): Collecting History
Panel 3B (Boardroom): Shifting Identity in Transnational Contexts
Closing Comments