This year, as part of Lincoln’s birthday bicentennial, people are celebrating his efforts against slavery, many of which were developed on Chicago ground. The new book Fighting Slavery in Chicago: Abolitionists, the Law of Slavery and Lincoln sheds light on the local people who shaped Lincoln’s beliefs.

Author Tom Campbell is an attorney in Chicago and an amateur historian. He says Illinois’ position proved challenging for freedom fighters.

Campbell and other Lincoln scholars will speak this Friday at a symposium on Lincoln’s legal career. It takes place at the Chicago Cultural Center.

Music Button: Eric Lugosch, “There’s a Destruction”, from the CD Black Key Blues, (Acoustic Music records)