March 19, 2009

As part of the Lincoln Bicentennial celebrations, Harvard University’s Houghton Library, the Massachusetts Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission, the Lincoln Forum, and the Lincoln Group of Boston are co-sponsoring a symposium on Abraham Lincoln at 200: New Perspectives on His Life and Legacy. The symposium, to be held at Houghton Library and other Harvard University venues on Friday, April 24, through Saturday, April 25, 2009, will coincide with a major exhibition featuring books, manuscripts, ephemera, and artifacts from Houghton Library’s Abraham Lincoln Collection.

The symposium will examine or re-examine several aspects of Lincoln’s career, such as his views on race and slavery, his role as Commander-in-Chief, his use of the press to shape public opinion, his relationship with Congress and his influence on the legislative process, and his role as a politician and as a party leader. 

Several prominent Lincoln and Civil War scholars have agreed to participate, including Jean H. Baker, Gabor Boritt, Vernon Burton, Brian Dirck, David Herbert Donald, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Drew Gilpin Faust, Richard W. Fox, Harold Holzer, John Marszalek, James McPherson, Edna Greene Medford, Matthew Pinsker, Gerald J. Prokopowicz, Barry Schwartz, John Stauffer, Craig Symonds, Thomas Turner, Michael Vorenberg, and Frank J. Williams.

For registration information and the symposium program, go to the Houghton Library Web site: http://www.hcl.harvard.edu/libraries/houghton/lincoln_new.html