Join the UIS Alumni SAGE Society and the Illinois State Historical Society for a series of noontime lectures in the University’s tradition of open and intelligent dialogue.

In-person participation for all programs will take place at Illini Country Club in Springfield, IL. The in-person registration fee for noontime programs ($50/person, per program with a portion of the fee going to support the UIS Alumni Association scholarship fund) includes a chef-prepared hot lunch and free parking.

Buffet lunch service for noontime programs will begin at 11:30 a.m. CT. Noontime presentation will begin promptly at 12 p.m. CT, and conclude by 1 p.m. CT.

Live complimentary virtual participation for all programs is also available via Zoom Webinar. 

Thursday, May 8

Native Americans in Illinois in 1818: Treaties and Treachery in the Path to Statehood

Dr. Michael Wiant, Historian and Retired Director, Illinois State Museum & Dickson Mounds Museum

Illinois' path to statehood was complex and significantly shaped by treaties with Native American tribes.  At the time, Illinois was a sparsely populated territory, home to a mix of Native Americans, European settlers, and African American communities—both free and enslaved. Dr. Wiant will discuss the events and treaties that displaced tribes from the Illinois territory, leading to the eventual removal of tribes to reservations west of the Mississippi River.