WHAT: The University of Illinois Springfield Center for Lincoln Studies will host the 23rd annual Beaumont Endowed Lincoln Legacy Lecture, “Lincoln and the Age of Disruption,” featuring Jon Grinspan, curator of political history at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, and Colleen Shogan, the 11th archivist of the United States. The lecture is free and open to the public.

WHEN: 6:30 p.m. Oct. 16

WHERE: UIS Student Union Ballroom, 2251 Richard Wright Drive, Springfield

DETAILS: Grinspan is the author of “Wide Awake: The Forgotten Force that Elected Lincoln and Spurred the Civil War” and will deliver a talk titled “The Age of Vigilance.” His lecture will explore how antebellum Americans formed organizations to protect what they saw as a disrupted society, culminating in the pro-Lincoln Wide Awakes and the Civil War. His award-winning books and New York Times articles examine the history of American democracy, including the 19th century youth vote, political polarization, anti-slavery clubs, Civil War culture and humor.

Shogan will connect the lecture topic to today, examining the role of cultural institutions, archives and museums in preserving democratic values and public memory. She was the first woman confirmed by the Senate to serve as archivist of the United States. A political scientist and author, Shogan is a senior adviser at More Perfect, an alliance of presidential centers and civic organizations dedicated to civics education.

Registration for the event is encouraged.