Illinois Welcoming the World greets visitors in the Illinois State Capitol rotunda. It is a bronze casting that duplicated the original plaster figure that stood in the reception room of the Illinois Building at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Created by Julia Bracken, assistant to Lorado Taft, the bronze was dedicated on May 16, 1895, “as a permanent memorial of the part which the women of Illinois took in the great Exposition.” (Courtesy of Heather Hayes.)

On the cover: February 12, Abraham Lincoln’s birthday, is a special day of celebration in Springfield. On February 12, 1935, the fledgling American Legion made its first annual pilgrimage to Lincoln’s tomb. Among the dignitaries present for the ceremonies were Gov. Henry Horner; national commander of the legion Frank N. Helgrano Jr. of San Francisco; president of the legion auxiliary Mrs. A. C. Carlson of Willmer, Minnesota; and Springfield mayor John W. “Buddy” Kapp. (Courtesy of Sangamon Valley Collection, Lincoln Library.)