SXU historian discovers lost record of Lincoln-Douglas debate

Click HERE for video interview with Professor Graham Peck about recovered accounts of 1854 Lincoln-Douglas exchange or visit www.sxu.edu

Chicago (Feb. 5, 2009) Saint Xavier University Associate Professor Graham Peck has discovered lost records that illuminate Abraham Lincoln’s historic rivalry with Senator Stephen A. Douglas.

In 1854, Lincoln traveled throughout central Illinois attacking Douglas and the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which Douglas had sponsored in Congress. The act repealed antislavery provisions of the Missouri Compromise, potentially enabling slavery to enter Kansas and Nebraska territories. These speeches began Lincoln’s rise to national notoriety that ultimately led to his election as president in 1860.

Despite the historical significance of the speeches given by these famed rivals, who would meet face-to-face in the renowned debates of 1858, there exist few reproductions of what they said in 1854.

Peck, an associate history professor at Saint Xavier University, has discovered forgotten records of the Lincoln-Douglas exchange at the 1854 Illinois State Fair. Two competing St. Louis, Mo. newspapers both sent reporters who produced accounts.

“This is a unique view into the development of Lincoln’s anti-slavery career and, in turn, the reorientation of Illinois and national politics that resulted in his election to the presidency six years later,” Peck said.

Peck’s findings will be released in the summer issue of the Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association, the country’s premier academic journal in the field of Lincoln studies.

“This is remarkable evidence that there is still much to be discovered about this most pivotal of figures in American history,” said Bryon Andreasen, research historian for the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum and editor of the Journal.

On Feb. 12, 2009, The Abraham Lincoln Association will lead the national celebration of Lincoln's 200th birthday. Illinois Senator Dick Durbin and President Barack Obama have been invited to attend the Association's birthday banquet on the evening of Feb. 12 in Springfield, Ill.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Contact: Joe Moore 773-298-3937 or jmoore@sxu.edu

-SXU-