Scranton to host exhibit of Abraham Lincoln's Journey to Emancipation
The “Forever Free: Abraham Lincoln’s Journey to Emancipation” exhibition will be on display at The University of Scranton’s Weinberg Memorial Library from Feb. 9 through Mar. 22. Shown is one of the last photographs of Abraham Lincoln from life, taken by Alexander Gardner in Spring, 1865. (Huntington Library, San Marino, California)
The University of Scranton will be among the select group of schools chosen to display “Forever Free: Abraham Lincoln’s Journey to Emancipation,” a national traveling exhibition that focuses on Lincoln’s quest to restore a Union divided by Civil War. The exhibit of reproductions of rare historical documents and photographs shows how Lincoln’s beliefs about freeing the slaves were transformed by war-time developments.
“Forever Free” will be on display at the Weinberg Memorial Library from Feb. 9 through Mar. 22, 2009. The exhibit is free of charge and open to the public during library hours.
The exhibit is organized by the Huntington Library, San Marino, Calif., and the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, New York City, in cooperation with American Library Association. “Forever Free” is made possible by 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.
In conjunction with the exhibit, the university’s Weinberg Memorial Library is offering a free, one-day conference on Saturday, Feb. 14, 2009, from 8:30 a.m. until 2 p.m. The conference will include presentations on Emerson and Lincoln, by University of Scranton English Professor Leonard Gougeon, Ph.D., a nationally recognized authority on Emerson and antebellum American literature; the Abolitionist Movement in Pennsylvania by Karen James, Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission; and the Underground Railroad in Northeastern Pennsylvania by Thomas E. Wooden Sr., Center for Anti-slavery Studies. The conference will also include an appearance by Abraham Lincoln, as portrayed by Jim Getty. The conference will conclude with a 1 p.m. reception in the Weinberg Library Heritage Room to view the exhibit.
The complete exhibit schedule can be found at http://academic.scranton.edu/department/wml/lincoln-event.html. Please contact Michael Knies, 570-941-6341 or Michael.Knies@Scranton.edu for more information and to register for the free conference.
