On December 26, 1864, approximately 40 children orphaned and displaced by guerrilla warfare and extreme poverty in northwestern Arkansas, were loaded onto a steamboat and shipped to vague and uncertain futures in Illinois. Their forced exodus was directed by U.S. Army Chaplain Francis Springer, a friend and former neighbor of Abraham Lincoln. Using a collage of primary sources, Furry presents the lives of several children who made this fateful voyage, as well as Chaplain SpringerÆs efforts to ameliorate their suffering and isolation. For more information contact Jill Pearce, 217.287.7397

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