Thursday, September 10th from 6:00pm to 7:00pm

Frank L. Baum and the Wonderful Wizard of Oz in Illinois and Beyond 

Mark W. Sorensen will give an illustrated presentation about how Baum came to Illinois and in 1900 wrote the first six of his fourteen Oz books while living in Chicago, as well as helping create the first Oz-related musical stage show and his touring multi-media extravaganza.  Sorensen will also review the many film versions that followed Baum's 1910 move to Hollywood, and some of the Oz legacies still remaining in Illinois.

Mark Sorensen is the retired assistant director of the Illinois State Archives and a past president of the Illinois State Historical Society.  He is a recipient of the ISHS Lifetime Achievement Award; the Studs Terkel Humanities Service Award; and an ILA Library Luminary Award.  He currently is the Official Macon County Historian and the historical consultant for that county's African American Heritage Trail project.   He is the author of "Illinois and the Marvelous Land of Oz" which appeared in the July 2024 issue of ILLINOIS HERITAGE magazine. 

NO REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED