Springfield, IL (CAPITOL CITY NOW) – The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum is putting on a 2-day Illinois history conference. The first day highlights the life of Mary Todd Lincoln, and then the second day highlights the history of bicycling in Illinois. Racquel Henry, a historian from the ALPLM, was a guest on the WTAX Morning Newswatch to discuss the upcoming history conference.

“Some of the things that I found most interesting about submissions of women was women that are pretty important from Mclean County, and they made important contributions to the state of Illinois,” said Henry.

The first day, the biographer Lois Romano will be at the conference talking about her book “An Inconvenient Widow: The Torment, Trial, and Triumph of Mary Todd Lincoln.”

“She was proud to be Abraham Lincoln’s wife. And as Lois Romano talks about her, it’s almost like journalist and historians and others who write history, they try to build life into the individual that has passed off the scene to make them three dimensional. She brings Mary Lincoln to life in such a way that she is three-dimensional,” Henry said.

The second day, is all about the history of bicycling in Illinois.

“Christopher Sweet is coming to talk about is book on cycling in Illinois, 160 years in bicycling in Illinois. He starts by talking about the general history of bicycles and cycling in America and internationally, but then he moves into all of the specifics, and a lot of people don’t know it, but there is a long list of 1st for the state of Illinois.”

The Illinois History Conference is October 1st and October 2nd.