Lee Slider served as a cultural interpreter for the Macon County Conservation District, and from the 1960s on he was a leading activist for historical preservation, interpretation and education in central Illinois. He was also active in the field of archeology. He worked at the Homestead Prairie Farm in the Rock Springs Conservation Area southwest of Decatur for decades. The farm includes the Macon County Conservation District’s restored 1850-era log home. Slider is an award-winning cultural and historic interpreter.
Interview Links
Abstract
Interview Session 01 (Audio)
Early history, military, working career and early conservation work
Interview Session 02 (Audio)
Career as conservationist and historic interpreter in Macon County
Photos
Caption
Lee Slider, early in his career as a cultural interpreter with the Macon County Conservation District, addresses an elementary school classroom.
Where:
Unknown
When:
Circa late 1970s-early 1980s
Ownership:
Narrator's photo
Caption
Lee Slider (right) and his wife, Carroll, in period clothes at a living history program at Rock Spring Conservation area near Decatur in the early 1990s.
Where:
Rock Spring Conservation area
When:
early 1990s
Ownership:
Narrator's photo
Caption
Lee Slider, dressed as the traveling phrenologist ‘Professor Phineas Fairhead,’ “reads” the head of a woman. The event was at the Clayville Historic Site, near Springfield, Illinois circa 2000s.
Where:
Clayville Historic Site
When:
Circa 2000s
Ownership:
Narrator's photo
Caption
Lee Slider, dressed as “Joe Trobaugh,” beats the drum during a living history program at Homestead Prairie Farm in the Rock Springs Conservation Area, just southwest of Decatur, circa 2005-2007. This program recreated the 1860 Presidential campaign.
Where:
Rock Springs Conservation Area
When:
2005-2007
Ownership:
Narrator's photo
Caption
Lee Slider during one of the interviews for this project, October 2019, in Decatur, Illinois.
Where:
Unknown
When:
October 2019
Ownership:
ALPL Oral History Program photo