Executive Producer's Introduction
Video introduction to "We Are For Egypt"
Welcome to “We Are For Egypt”. My name is Stacy Davidson, the creator of the “We Are For Egypt” project. Growing up in the region, I was surrounded by visual and textual references to ancient Egypt. It seemed “normal” to me, yet I do not remember ever learning why Southern Illinois was called “Little Egypt” or that it had been called “Egypt” before that. I knew nothing of the rich regional “Egyptian” history waiting to be uncovered in newspaper accounts and archives or the buildings, monuments, and sites waiting to be explored. I received no instruction about this curious Egyptian association while pursuing a Bachelors in History or in my graduate studies in Egyptology.
It was only after giving a community talk many years later that I was confronted by the glaringly obvious need to delve deeper into the history of “Egyptian” Southern Illinois. An audience member asked if my growing up in the region had influenced my choice of graduate studies, and I replied that I had honestly never considered that possibility. Up until that moment, Southern Illinois history and ancient Egyptian history were two separate things to me. But I could not let go of that simple question, and it set me on my path researching the history, culture, arts, and reception of ancient Egypt in Southern Illinois—reception meaning: how people or cultures interact with, interpret, understand, adapt, and take inspiration from another culture, such as ancient Egypt.
As a Southern Illinois native, a historian, an Egyptologist, and a public educator, I am uniquely positioned to provide accessible and engaging resources on this rich subject matter. Both with the Educator’s handbook and the musical album, I aim to make this research more accessible to general readers, armchair historians, students, residents of Southern Illinois, and, indeed, anyone interested in Southern Illinois’ “Egyptian” affiliation. It is my hope that this digital exhibit will be the first stop on your journey through Egypt, Illinois.