Program info & archives
Story Subject Category: History
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2009 is the 200th anniversary of the birth of our 16th president, Abraham Lincoln. As part of the Lincoln Bicentennial, and in connection with WILL-TV’s documentary Lincoln: Prelude to the Presidency, we’ve created a series of segments looking at Lincoln’s life in central Illinois and how his years spent as a traveling lawyer on the Illinois Eighth Judicial Circuit helped make him one of our nation’s greatest presidents. Tonight we’ll look at what daily life was like for Lincoln as he traveled along the “mud circuit” and explore how the challenges and people he encountered along the way shaped him.
Segment duration: 04:50
Producer: Steve Drake and Alison Davis Wood
Editor: Steve Drake and Tristan Riddell
This segment is filed in these categories: History • Illinois Culture/History
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Get Flash to see this video.
2009 is the 200th anniversary of the birth of our 16th president, Abraham Lincoln. As part of the Lincoln Bicentennial, and in connection with our documentary Lincoln: Prelude to the Presidency, we’ve created a series of segments looking at Lincoln’s life in central Illinois and how his years spent as a traveling lawyer on the Illinois eighth circuit helped make him one of our nation’s greatest presidents. Tonight we’ll look at Lincoln’s domestic life and how being away from his wife and children affected him while he was traveling on the circuit. We’ll also learn how protecting his soon-to-be-wife’s honor nearly cost him his life.
Segment duration: 06:44
Producer: Steve Drake and Alison Davis Wood
Editor: Steve Drake and Tristan Riddell
This segment is filed in these categories: Family history • History • Illinois Culture/History
back to the main Prairie Fire page
Get Flash to see this video.
As part of the Lincoln Bicentennial, and in connection with WILL-TV’s documentary Lincoln: Prelude to the Presidency, we’ve created a series of segments looking at how Lincoln’s years spent as a traveling lawyer on the Illinois Eighth Judicial Circuit helped make him one of our nation’s greatest presidents. We look at what life was like in the mid-1800s in the towns along the circuit and how Lincoln’s time spent there helped shape him as a lawyer, politician and man.
Segment duration: 05:32
Story links:
Producer: Steve Drake and Alison Davis Wood
Editor: Steve Drake and Tristan Riddell
This segment is filed in these categories: History • Illinois Culture/History
back to the main Prairie Fire page
Get Flash to see this video.
As part of the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial in 2009 and in connection with WILL-TV’s documentary Lincoln: Prelude to the Presidency, we’ve created a series of segments exploring how Lincoln’s years workings as a traveling lawyer in central Illinois helped make him one of our nation’s greatest presidents. In tonight’s segment, we look at Lincoln’s early ambitions and explore his life and career in Illinois before he became a traveling lawyer.
Segment duration: 5:41
Producer: Steve Drake and Alison Davis Wood
Editor: Steve Drake and Tristan Riddell
This segment is filed in these categories: History • Illinois Culture/History
back to the main Prairie Fire page
Get Flash to see this video.
As part of the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial in 2009 and in connection with WILL-TV’s documentary “Lincoln: Prelude to the Presidency,” we’ve created a series of segments exploring how Lincoln’s years workings as a traveling lawyer in central Illinois helped make him one of our nation’s greatest presidents. In this segment, we explore the Lincoln you don’t know and see how he dealt with depression and a troubled relationship with his wife, Mary Todd Lincoln.
Segment duration: 7:45
Story links:
Producer: Steve Drake and Alison Davis Wood
Editor: Steve Drake and Tristan Riddell
This segment is filed in these categories: History • Illinois Culture/History
back to the main Prairie Fire page
Get Flash to see this video.
2009 is the 200th anniversary of the birth of our 16th president, Abraham Lincoln. As part of the Lincoln Bicentennial, and in connection with WILL-TV’s documentary Lincoln: Prelude to the Presidency, we’ve created a series of segments looking at Lincoln’s life here in central Illinois and how his years spent as a traveling lawyer on the Illinois Eighth Judicial Circuit helped make him one of our nation’s greatest presidents. Tonight we’ll look at Lincoln in the courtroom and see how his personal legal style showed his true character and gave a glimpse of what he would one day be like as president.
Segment duration: 5:10
Story links:
Producer: Steve Drake and Alison Davis Wood
Editor: Steve Drake and Tristan Riddell
This segment is filed in these categories: History • Illinois Culture/History
back to the main Prairie Fire page
Get Flash to see this video.
As part of the Abraham Lincoln bicentennial in 2009 and in connection with WILL-TV’s documentary Lincoln: Prelude to the Presidency, we’ve created a series of segments exploring how Lincoln’s years workings as a traveling lawyer in central Illinois helped make him one of our nation’s greatest presidents. In tonight’s segment, we look at Lincoln’s opinions about women and how his years in Illinois affected his feelings about women’s rights and the role of women on the frontier.
Segment duration: 09:11
Story links:
Producer: Steve Drake and Alison Davis Wood
Editor: Steve Drake
This segment is filed in these categories: Gender • History • Illinois Culture/History
back to the main Prairie Fire page
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2009 is the 200th anniversary of the birth of our 16th president, Abraham Lincoln. As part of the Lincoln Bicentennial, and in connection with our documentary Lincoln: Prelude to the Presidency, we’ve created a series of segments looking at Lincoln’s life here in central Illinois and how his years spent as a traveling lawyer on the Illinois Eighth Judicial Circuit helped make him one of our nation’s greatest presidents. Tonight we’ll examine how Lincoln’s thoughts on slavery evolved over the years and how race played an increasingly important part in his political life.
Segment duration: 05:35
Story links:
Producer: Steve Drake & Alison Davis Wood
Editor: Steve Drake
This segment is filed in these categories: Ethnicity/Culture • History • Illinois Culture/History
back to the main Prairie Fire page
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Prairie Fire tells the story of New Philadelphia, Ill., the first town founded by a free African American in U.S. history. We visit with University of Illinois archaeologists, who are unearthing the remains of this once racially integrated town 85 miles northwest of St. Louis, and learn about its founder, “Free” Frank McWorter.
Although the site was designated a National Historic Landmark in January, it’s still largely unknown to the public. Prairie Fire series producer Steve Drake said he understood why after visiting the remote dig site. “I parked on a non-descript dirt road. I never would have guessed that the remains of such an important part of American history were being excavated nearby.” A portable lab, several holes in the ground and a bus lined with shelves filled with artifacts like dolls, bones and crockery were the only clues that history was being unearthed.
“It always surprises me how many amazing things you can find here in central Illinois if you know where to look,” Steve said. “That’s one of the things that I love about Prairie Fire, that we can find out about some of these little-known, out-of-the-way places and help bring them to our viewers.”
Steve interviews two descendants of McWorter, siblings Gerald and Sandra McWorter, who talk about New Philadelphia’s role in the Underground Railroad and their pride in their great-great-grandfather. He also talks to U of I archaeologist Christopher Fennell, who is principal investigator at the dig near Barry, Ill.
Segment duration: 12:06
Story links:
- New Philadelphia Association Web site
- New Philadelphia Web site (by Dr. Christopher Fennell)
- Free Frank New Philadelphia Historic Preservation Foundation Web site
- New Philadelphia Web site (Center for Heritage Resouce Studies)
- National Science Foundation Research Experiences for Undergraduates (NSF-REU)
Producer: Steve Drake
Editor: Steve Drake and Jared Collins
This segment is filed in these categories: Ethnicity/Culture • History • Illinois Culture/History • University of Illinois
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We meet photographer David Wiegers, of Gurnee, Ill., who is traveling across American documenting the many sculptures, monuments and other public artworks dedicated to Abraham Lincoln, including those located on the University of Illinois campus.Over the past few years, Wiegers has photographed over 200 statues and monuments dedicated to our 16th president. Series Producer Steve Drake caught up with Wiegers when he visited the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign campus to photograph one of those Lincoln artworks, the relief sculptures that adorn the walls on the university’s own Lincoln Hall.
Segment duration: 06:02
Producer: Steve Drake
Editor: Jared Collins and Steve Drake
This segment is filed in these categories: Architecture • Arts/Culture • Historical Landmarks • History • Illinois Culture/History • Photography • Travel • Champaign • Lincoln • University of Illinois • Urbana
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