Neil Dahlstrom Born and raised in East Moline, Illinois, is the author of two books and more than a twenty articles in such publications as the Journal of Illinois History, History News, History News, and Two Cylinder Magazine, and has been interviewed by CNN, Investor's Business Daily, and the Quad City Times. He has appeared on numerous radio stations across the United States, as well as on CSPAN's Book TV and the National Geographic Channel. In 2004 he was named the city of Moline Preservationist of the Year, and in 2007 received Monmouth College's Young Alumnus award. Dahlstrom earned degrees in History and Classics from Monmouth College (1998) and a masters in Historical Administration from Eastern Illinois University (2000). In 2005 he published both The John Deere Story: A Biography of Plowmakers John and Charles Deere (Northern Illinois University Press, 2005) and Lincoln’s Wrath: Fierce Mobs, Brilliant Scoundrels and a President’s Mission to Destroy the Press (Sourcebooks, 2005). He has served on the Moline Historic Preservation Commission and the Eastern Illinois University Historical Administration Program Board, and is currently vice- president of the Moline Preservation Society, chairman of the American Association for State and Local History’s Corporate History Affinity Group, member of the Quad City Henry Farnam Dinner Committee, the Monmouth College Alumni Board, and participant in the Illinois Humanities Council Road Scholar Speakers Bureau for 2007-2008. Currently he is coordinating the exhibition of Forever Free: Abraham Lincoln’s Journey to Emancipation for the Moline Public Library in cooperation with the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission, National Endowment for the Humanities, and the American Library Association. Neil lives in Moline, Illinois with his wife Karen, an admissions counselor at Augustana College.