Event Details
When
11/02/2010 - 6:30pm
Where
Chillicothe Public Library
430 N Bradley Ave
Chillicothe, IL, 61523-1920United States
County:
Peoria
Fee:
Free. Open to the public.
Sponsor Organization:
Chillicothe Public Library
In 1841, Mrs. Nance Legins (Cox-Cromwell) Costley and her first three children were the first slaves freed by then-lawyer Abraham Lincoln who argued that "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall exist" before the Illinois Supreme Court. Nearly thirty years later, President Lincoln would sign that Jeffersonian idea into law. Join Carl Adams as he discusses anecdotes from Nance's life, and the importance of her case as the only African-American to appeal to the Supreme Court three times.
