On Thursday, October 16, 2025, The University of Illinois Springfield Center for Lincoln Studies presents the Mary and James Beaumont Endowed Lincoln Legacy Lecture Series featuring Jon Grinspan and Colleen Shogan speaking on the topic of Abraham Lincoln and the Age of Disruption.

Grinspan is author of Wide Awake: The Forgotten Force that Elected Lincoln and Spurred the Civil War and will deliver his talk, "The Age of Vigilance," on the many organizations antebellum Americans formed claiming to protect their disrupted society. These movements culminated with the pro-Lincoln Wide Awakes and the outbreak of the Civil War.

Colleen Shogan, who served as the 11th Archivist of the United States and the first woman in American history appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate to lead the National Archives, will bring our topic to the present and discuss our current age of disruption. Shogan's lecture will emphasize the vital role of cultural institutions, archives, libraries, and museums in preserving democratic values by safeguarding historical truth and public memory. Drawing inspiration from Abraham Lincoln and the Declaration of Independence, she will warn against the growing politicization of these institutions, arguing that nonpartisanship is essential for civic trust and national unity.

Grinspan is the Curator of Political History at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. His award-winning books and New York Times articles have explored the deep history of American democracy, including the 19th century youth vote, Gilded Age political angst, militant anti-slavery clubs, Civil War coffee, and too-far political comedy.

Shogan is a noted author and political scientist. She is deeply committed to civics education and is a senior advisor at More Perfect, an alliance of 37 presidential centers and hundreds of civic leaders and organizations, that invites Americans to consider the most enduring lessons of our history while informing the future of our democracy.

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