Scope and Contents:
This collection consists of the papers and research material of the Lovejoy Society.
The Lovejoy Society, formed in 1995 by Reverends William F. Moore and Jane Ann Moore, serves to advance the study of Owen Lovejoy (1811-1864), an abolitionist leader from Princeton, Illinois. After the murder of his abolitionist brother, Elijah P. Lovejoy, Owen Lovejoy entered politics and led the abolitionist movement in Illinois. Owen was also a lawyer, minister, "conductor" on the Underground Railroad, and friend of Abraham Lincoln.
This collection contains papers written, published, and presented by the Lovejoy Society. Also included are publications and research material, such as a compact disc of the Moore's detailed study of Lovejoy and Lincoln, titled With Increasing Respect: The Lincoln-Lovejoy Saga (2010). Subsequent files are organized as follows: (A) Owen Lovejoy and African Americans, (B) Owen's Lovejoy's Associates, (C) Owen Lovejoy's Family, (D) Owen Lovejoy's History, (E) Lovejoy's Relationship to Lincoln, (F) Lovejoy's Political Activities, and (G) Lovejoy and Religion. Additionally, there is a recording of William F. Moore's Prairieland Chautauqua presentation, "Meet Owen Lovejoy" (2005); programs of the Lovejoy Symposium in 1998 and 2000; and papers relating to William F. Moore and Jane Ann Moore, editors of Owen Lovejoy: His Brother's Blood: Speeches and Writings, 1838-64 (2004), and their book, Collaborators for Emancipation: Abraham Lincoln and Owen Lovejoy (2014).
William and Jane Ann Moore donated the collection to the Library between 2010 and 2014.