Illinois' history with slavery and its links to the present
March 27, 2023 Produced by Christine Hatfield Slave shackles are on display as part of the Undying Words exhibit during an announcement of the sche...
March 27, 2023 Produced by Christine Hatfield Slave shackles are on display as part of the Undying Words exhibit during an announcement of the schedule of events and activities for next year to mark the 150th anniversary of the end of slavery, the conclusion of the Civil War and the death of Abraham Lincoln at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum and Library in 2014. Seth Perlman/AP When Illinois was admitted to the union, it was as a free state, as opposed to a slave state, but that was just one chapter in the long history of slavery and its legacy in Illinois, dating all the way back to the 1600s, when French settlers brought slaves with them as they came to the area.