CHICAGO, February 5, 2009- To commemorate the 200th anniversary of Lincoln's birth, the Newberry Library, in partnership with the Chicago History Museum and the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission, created an integrated pair of web exhibitions on Lincoln and the West and Lincoln and the Civil War. The digital exhibitions can be found at lincolnat200.org.
Abraham Lincoln and the West, 1809-1860 is a Web-only exhibition that draws on an autobiography that Lincoln wrote for the 1860 presidential campaign and investigates how contests over westward expansion and the future of slavery shaped nineteenth-century political culture.
"We designed this web exhibition to enable people to see maps, manuscripts, and other items in the Newberry collections that bring to life Lincoln's experiences as a young man in the nineteenth-century Illinois frontier. We often think first of Lincoln's presidency, but his significance is grounded in a larger history that we explore in Lincoln and the West," said Daniel Greene, director of the William M. Scholl Center for American History and Culture.
The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War is a digital version of a gallery exhibition at Chicago History Museum (October 10, 2009 to April 4, 2010). It chronicles the fundamental changes in Lincoln's thinking while president that ultimately saved the nation and gave all Americans a new birth of freedom.
Both digital exhibits draw on the rich collections of the Newberry Library and the Chicago History Museum. Zoomable images enable readers to engage with primary documents and artifacts from the world Lincoln knew, including some documents in his own hand. References to books and speeches are linked to full-text versions whenever possible.
In addition to lincolnat200.org, the Newberry Library is offering the following Lincoln inspired programs and exhibits over the next 12 months:
Lincoln at 200 Lobby Display
At the Newberry Library
February 3 - February 16
Among items on display is a copy of Abraham Lincoln's First Inaugural, published just four days after the new president delivered it, an autobiography, sheet music, and a calligraphic rendition of the Emancipation Proclamation as a Lincoln memorial after the President had died.
African-American Abolitionists, Abraham Lincoln, and the Road to Freedom
Saturday, February 7, 11:00 am
Speaker: Spencer Crew, George Mason University
The former president of the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center will discuss the role of African American abolitionists in Lincoln's thinking about slavery.
A. Lincoln: A Biography
Thursday, February 12, 6:00 pm
Speaker: Ronald C. White, Jr.
At this Meet the Author program, White provides a portrait of Lincoln's personal, political, and moral evolution.
"With Malice Toward None: The Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Exhibition"
October 10, 2009 - December 19, 2009
This traveling exhibit from the Library of Congress offers the public the opportunity to view rarely seen treasures from the Library's collections. It will chart Lincoln's growth from prairie lawyer to preeminent statesman and address the monumental issues he faced, including slavery and race, the dissolution of the Union, and the Civil War.
The exhibit will reveal Lincoln the man, whose thoughts, words, and actions were deeply affected by personal experiences and pivotal historic events. By placing Lincoln's words in a historical context, the exhibition will give visitors a deeper understanding of how remarkable Lincoln's decisions were for their time and why his words continue to resonate today.
The exhibition will draw on the vast and varied collections of Lincoln material in the Library and will include letters, photographs, political cartoons, period engravings, speeches, and artifacts. The actual grammar book studied by Lincoln in his effort to master English, the notes he prepared in advance of his debates with Senator Stephen Douglas, and the personal scrapbook he assembled of newspaper clippings of the debates bring this iconic figure to life.
ABOUT THE NEWBERRY LIBRARY
The Newberry Library provides a home to a world-class collection of books, manuscripts, and maps, and also to a growing community of readers. Our collections, spanning many centuries, feature a wide range of materials, from illuminated medieval manuscripts to rich genealogical resources, and from early printed books to the personal papers of Midwest authors. The Newberry offers highly acclaimed programs for serious readers: fellowships for scholars, seminars for undergraduates, professional development activities for teachers, and a variety of adult education seminars, public lectures, and workshops. Visit us online at www.newberry.org or in person at 60 W. Walton St., Chicago, IL.