The Illinois State Historical Society (ISHS) is a private sector organization, organized as a nonprofit, that edits and disseminates public knowledge of history throughout the U.S. state of Illinois.
[1] The ISHS was created as an entity with the original purpose of gathering and publishing materials on paper relating to Illinois' early history.
American Civil War veterans and the grandchildren of the state's early settlers were eager to learn how Illinois had organized itself in the years prior to the 1860 presidential election of Abraham Lincoln.
As time passed, the focus of the Society shifted from books to periodicals and symposia.
The Society holds meetings and symposia, and offers small prizes and scholarships for continued work and studies in Illinois history, with growing emphasis on the social history of the 20th century in Illinois.