From left, Alton Township Supervisor Don Huber, State
Rep. Dan Beiser, Alton Alderman Phil Hanrahan and Mayor
Don Sandidge examine the new marker for Lincoln-Douglas
Square after the unveiling of the sign Saturday on
Broadway in Alton.
ALTON — The third incarnation of a historical
marker signifying the Lincoln-Douglas debates was unveiled
Saturday at the square that bears the debater’s names.
The marker tells of the seventh and final debate in 1858
between Abraham Lincoln and Stephan A. Douglas for a U.S.
Senate seat. It sits atop a signpost on the north side of
the square at the intersection of Landmarks Street and
West Broadway.
While Douglas won the seat, Lincoln would be elected
president two years later.
The debates are of historic value because Lincoln argued
to keep slavery from expanding into Western states and
Douglas contended that individual states, not the federal
government, should make the decision.
The marker is the third in a historical line going back to
1909 that tell of the debate. All the previous ones were
stolen or went missing. One erected at the old City Hall,
which was where the square is now, was installed in 1929
and stolen in 1975.
After the Great Flood of 1993, the square was rebuilt, and
the marker went missing during the reconstruction, Alton
Township Supervisor Don Huber said.
Members from the Illinois State Historical Society, a
non-profit group that makes placing markers part of its
mission, said the state has about 500 historical markers.
About 25 percent of those markers are missing or in
disrepair, giving the Historical Society a perpetual job
load.
“A lot of (markers) are still in use since the 1930s,”
said Historical Society member Stuart Fliege. “Some have
been stolen, some have been used for shotgun practice,
but, for the most part, they are still around.”
The Historical Society plans to install several more
markers in the next few months in the Illinois towns of
Albion, Buffalo Grove, Springfield and in Southern
Illinois along the Lewis and Clark trail. It recently
installed a marker near Piasa Park on the River Road.
The marker cost about $3,000 to produce and was funded by
the Greater Alton Chamber of Commerce. It also has a
correction from its predecessor, which incorrectly labeled
the date of the debate as Oct. 16, 1858, when the debate
was held on the 15th.
The Historical Society is in the process of restoring all
80 markers in the state that have a connection to Lincoln,
in honor of the 16th president’s 200th birthday on Feb.
12, 2009.
Alton Mayor Don Sandidge and State Rep. Dan Beiser,
D-Alton, praised organizers for installing the marker.
Sandidge noted that historical reenactments are slated for
October 2008, the 150th anniversary of the Alton debate
that garnered a crowd of 5,000.
Beiser said the historical significance of the debates
would now be more prominent.
“If we don’t have something to commemorate (the debate) at
the site, then we’re not doing our duty to be fair to the
city,” Beiser said.
Incoming Historical Society President John Weck said the
group chose Saturday to dedicate the new marker because it
coincided with the group’s convention held this weekend at
the Pere Marquette State Park lodge outside Grafton.
“The most important thing we do is get out in Illinois
communities and make sure that history is everywhere and
not just in Springfield or Chicago,” Weck said.
When asked why the markers are an important part of the
Historical Society’s mission, Fliege said, “If you don’t
know where you’ve been, you sure as heck don’t know where
you are going.”
At the Historical Society convention Saturday, Roxana High
School history teacher Jeff Welker was honored with the
Oliver Foster award for teachers who incorporate local
history into their lessons.
