January 2010

Journey to emancipation

Last year marked the 200th birthday of one of the most memorable U.S. presidents — Abraham Lincoln. This year, UNCG is the site of a traveling exhibition which traces Lincoln’s gradual transformation from an antislavery moderate into “The Great Emancipator.”

“Forever Free: Abraham Lincoln's Journey to Emancipation,” featuring reproductions of rare historical documents, will be on display at the library from Jan. 25 to March 5.

In conjunction with the exhibit, the University Libraries are bringing several speakers to campus:

• 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 26 — Dr. Loren Schweninger, UNCG Department of History, “Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln and the End of Slavery.” Virginia Dare Room, Alumni House.
• 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 27 — Former Senator George McGovern will sign copies of his 2009 book, “Lincoln,” and discuss what drew him to the subject. Reception immediately following. Jackson Library Reading Room.
• 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 4 — Dr. Thomas Brown, University of South Carolina Department of History, “The Civil War in Modern Eyes.” Virginia Dare Room, Alumni House.
• 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 18 — Dr. Paul Finkelman, Albany Law School, “Did Abe Lincoln Really Free the Slaves?” Virginia Dare Room, Alumni House.
• 7 p.m. Thursday, March 4 — Dr. Heather Williams, UNC Chapel Hill Department of History, “Help Me to Find My People: Searching for Family After Slavery Ended.” Virginia Dare Room, Alumni House.

“We are pleased to have been selected as a site for this exhibition,” said Dean Rosann Bazirjian of the University Libraries at UNCG. “The Civil War and slavery are topics which must constantly be revisited in order to help 21st century Americans better understand their causes and more clearly see how their effects are still with us today.

“This exhibit offers our campus and our community an opportunity to learn more about how Abraham Lincoln decided upon emancipation of the slaves, even as he tried to hold together a fragile coalition of states in order to preserve the Union. It is a revealing insight into the values, principles and ideals that guided one of our greatest presidents.”

In addition to the events at the University Libraries, free programs are being sponsored by the Greensboro Public Library and the Greensboro Historical Museum in connection with the exhibition. For more information, contact Kimberly Lutz at (336) 256-8598 or kdlutz2@uncg.edu.

Visit http://library.uncg.edu/depts/admin/lincoln/ for a list of all of the events in the series.

Organized by the Huntington Library, San Marino, Calif., and the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, New York City, in cooperation with the American Library Association (ALA), this traveling exhibition is made possible through major grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission, created by Congress and charged with planning the national celebration of Lincoln’s 200th birthday.

Locally, this project is made possible in part by a grant from the North Carolina Humanities Council, a statewide nonprofit and affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, and through the support of the Friends of the UNCG Libraries, the N.C. Civil War Roundtable and the UNCG History Club.