SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — The weather turned frigid in the state capital on Wednesday, just in time for the dedication of a marker commemorating the day nearly 16 years ago when thousands braved single-digit temperatures to see then-U.S. Sen. Barack Obama announce his 2008 presidential bid from the steps of the Old State Capitol.
The roughly 47-inch-by-44-inch marker, which stands on the southeast corner of the Old Capitol grounds in downtown Springfield, also commemorates Obama’s 2008 announcement that then-Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware would be his running mate. It adds historical resonance to a building most famous as the site of Abraham Lincoln’s “House Divided” speech to the 1858 Republican State Convention.
The Old State Capitol Foundation and the Illinois State Historical Society split the nearly $3,000 cost of the marker, using private funds.
