USCHSCOMMEMORATES
African American History Month with Two Lectures
The U.S. Capitol Historical Society's annual commemoration of African American History Month recently concluded with its second lecture on abolitionist themes. Owen Muelder, director of the Underground Railroad Freedom Center at Knox College, spoke about Rep. Owen Lovejoy on February 3, and Phillip Magness, from George Mason University, discussed the varied career of John Willis Menard on February 15. The Illinois State Society co-sponsored both events. The first lecture was also co-sponsored by the
Knox College Alumni Association of Washington, D.C., and Knox College President Teresa Amott was on hand to introduce Owen Muelder. Muelder's talk covered much of Owen Lovejoy's life, from his brother's killing by a pro-slavery mob to his Congressional career. Muelder included stories about Lovejoy's open, even audacious, work with the underground railroad; several audience questions also focused on how the underground railroad functioned in that part of Illinois.
Muelder spoke to an attentive audi- ence in the Rayburn House Office Building.
Rep. Davis at the podium
SPRING 2012
