Abolitionism on the Missouri-Illinois Border

Part of the Friends of the Missouri State Archives’ Thursday Evening Speaker Series.

This in-person ONLY event will take place at the Cole County Historical Society (109 Madison St, Jefferson City, MO 65101) due to the temporary closure of the Missouri State Archives’ auditorium.

In the pre-Civil War-era, slavery and Underground Railroad activity both existed along the border between Missouri and Illinois. Abolitionists founded Missouri’s Marion College – the first institute of higher education in the state to receive a charter from the Missouri State Legislature – in the pro-slavery northeastern county of the same name, as well as the Mission Institute across the Mississippi River in Quincy, Illinois. C. Patrick Hotle’s presentation explores the impact abolitionism had on both sides of the border, especially between 1831 and 1844 when the two colleges were most active. Thus, it serves as a case study demonstrating how the dynamic between slavery and abolitionism shaped the area’s history.