The Genealogy & Local History Library is partnering with Alton Area Landmarks Association (AALA) this winter to bring back our three-part Saturday lecture series in January, February, and March. AALA is dedicated to educating, promoting, and saving the architectural heritage of the Alton area. Feel free to register for one talk or all three.

Seating is limited. Please register at 1-800-613-3163.

Laura Lyon, Vice President of HeartLands Conservancy, has decades of experience in community planning, urban design, and conservation planning and design. As part of her role, Laura leads The Mounds – America’s First Cities, the effort to elevate and create the Cahokia Mounds Mississippian Culture National Historical Park or National Monument. Laura has a Master of Architecture degree from Washington University in St. Louis. She and her husband also have an architecture firm, Studio Archaeos. They moved to Alton in 2012 to restore a house in Christian Hill.

As a steward of distinctive and dynamic places of ecological, cultural, and community value, HeartLands Conservancy is southern Illinois’ largest conservation nonprofit. For over thirty years, the organization has advocated for protecting important places and solutions that balance conservation strategies with economic sustainability and human well-being. Laura and her team will update us on their ongoing watershed planning, conservation work, and projects, especially the Cahokia Mounds initiative.