Northern Illinois library conference set for April 22 in DeKalb

DeKALB – The Northern Illinois University Libraries Regional History Center will host the inaugural Northern Illinois Regional History Conference.

The conference will be held from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday, April 22, in the Heritage Room of the NIU Holmes Student Center, DeKalb, according to a news release.

Admission to the conference is free.

The conference will feature panel sessions with presentations on various projects and topics on northern Illinois’ changing communities, evolving land-use, and how history influences regional identity. The theme of the conference is “At the Crossroads of the Urban-Rural Divide.”

The keynote speaker is Raphael Wahwassuck of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation Tribal Council. Wahwassuck will discuss the area history of the Potawatomi Nation and recent efforts to reclaim ancestral tribal land near Shabbona State Park that was illegally auctioned by the U.S. government in 1849. The conference’s schedule is available online at the NIU Libraries website. Attendees must register by Saturday, April 15, to attend. To register, visit tinyurl.com/4n2wkjfs.

For information, visit tinyurl.com/4n2wkjfs, email bwiles@niu.edu, or call 815-753-9392.