MORE ABOUT DARREL DEXTER…

Born in Cairo, Darrel Dexter has had an interest in his hometown that has followed him throughout his career as a local historian and high school history teacher at Egyptian High School. He has been a friend of TCHPP, and before his retirement brought students to Cairo on many occasions to share the city’s history.

Darrel has given many lectures and has written books about the history of Southern Illinois. These include Pulling off the Sheets: The Second Ku Klux Klan in Southern Illinois and Bondage in Egypt: Slavery in Southern Illinois, referred to as “the most comprehensive account to date of racial slavery in Illinois.”

TCHPP was very happy to have him come on February 25, 2025, to the heart of the downtown Cairo Historical District and present his lecture about Cairo’s history at the Cairo (Safford) Public Library. While not recorded in Cairo, please enjoy this informative presentation videoed two weeks prior at the Carbondale Public Library on February 8, 2025.