EIU Media Relations

"New Deal" Symposium Made Possible Through Riccio Memorial Fund

The Eastern Illinois University History Department, in conjunction with the Barry D. Riccio Memorial Fund, will host a "Symposium on the New Deal in Illinois " on Thursday, Oct. 9.

The event will feature a talk, one panel presentation, and an early evening keynote address by Donald Ritchie, associate historian to the United States Senate.

Most events are free and open to the public; no registration is required. However, those wishing to attend the luncheon address, or who have questions about parking and/or accommodations, should contact Edmund F. Wehrle (fwehrle@eiu.edu) for lunch tickets, priced at $10 per person.

A tentative schedule is planned as follows:

"FDR at the Wheel of the New Deal" (luncheon address), 1:15 p.m., University Ballroom. This address will be presented by Margaret Rung, an associate professor of history and director of the Center for New Deal Studies at Roosevelt University.  Rung received her doctorate from John Hopkins University, and is the author of "Servants of the State: Managing Democracy and Diversity in the Federal Workplace, 1933-1953."

"Politics and Programs: How the New Deal Played Out in Illinois " (Panel Discussion), 2:30 to 4 p.m., Charleston/Mattoon Room, MLK Jr. Union. Scheduled panelists include Cecilia Stiles Cornell, author of "The Capital in Crisis: Springfield in the Interregnum," University of Illinois at Springfield; Gregory Pratt, author of "Politics on Credit: Chronicling the Distribution of the New Deal in Illinois," University of Illinois at Chicago; and Michael Swinford, author of "Rustic Relief: The Civilian Conservation Corps in Illinois," Eastern Illinois University. David Maurer, emeritus history professor, EIU, will be the commentator.

The keynote address, "Learning from FDR: The Long Impact of the 1932 Election," will begin at 5 p.m. in the University Ballroom, MLK Jr. Union.  A reception will follow the address.

Ritchie holds a doctorate from the University of Maryland at College Park and has authored numerous books, including "Our Constitution" and, more recently, "Electing FDR:  The New Deal Campaign of 1932."

Barry D. Riccio joined Eastern's history faculty in 1995 and proved himself to be an outstanding teacher and colleague. Following his death from cancer in 2001 at the age of 46, his friends, family and colleagues established the Barry D. Riccio History Fund in his honor.  The generosity of fund donors has allowed the department to bring "many of the leading lights of American intellectual history" to Eastern's campus.