NIU Libraries Regional History Center will host the second annual Northern Illinois Regional History Conference from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 20, 2024, at the Barsema Alumni and Visitors Center on NIU's campus in DeKalb. The conference theme is “Transnational Communities and Global Influences In/On Northern Illinois.” The conference keynote speaker is Professor Erik S. McDuffie, associate professor of history and African American Studies at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, who will examine the global impact of Black northern Illinois from the late 18^th century to the present. Specifically, McDuffie will discuss African-descended people such as Jean Baptiste Point Du Sable, Ida B. Wells and Christine Johnson, the historic, all-Black municipality of Robbins, Illinois, and movements such as the Nation of Islam and the Black Arts Movement. The discussion will provide a theoretical and empirical framework for appreciating northern Illinois as a key site in the making of the modern Black world.

The conference program will also feature concurrent panel sessions with presentations on a variety of topics and projects related to northern Illinois’ history, heritage and culture in local and global contexts.

The Northern Illinois Regional History Conference is free and open to the public. No registration is required but attendees are encouraged to RSVP by April 15, 2024. For more information or to RSVP, please visit the conference webpage (https://tinyurl.com/4n2wkjfs) or contact Bradley J. Wiles at bwiles@niu.edu or 815-753-9392.