Seven score and nearly a decade ago, Abraham Lincoln delivered his iconic Gettysburg Address. This March, the DC-based Abraham Lincoln Institute (ALI) will sponsor a day-long symposium in College Park on, well, what makes it so iconic.
This free event will feature several notable speakers, a panel discussion, a Q&A session, and lunch, all courtesy of the National Archives Foundation.
To celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Gettysburg Address and the Emancipation Proclamation, the symposium will feature a talk by Martin P. Johnson called “Solving the Mysteries of the Gettysburg Address,” and one by James Oakes on “the Emancipation Proclamation: Myths and Realities.”
Founded in 1998, the ALI—whose mission is to provide “free, ongoing education on the life, career, and legacy of President Abraham Lincoln”—annually presents awards for the best book and dissertation on our 16th president. Oakes garnered the 2008 Lincoln Prize, and William C. Harris—who will discuss “Lincoln and the War Governors” at this year’s event—won the honor in 2012.
Also on the docket this year are Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Mark E. Neely Jr., who’ll give a talk on his recent book, Lincoln and the Triumph of the Nation, and author Mark S. Reinhart, who’ll draw on the hit movie Lincoln to speak on “Spielberg and the Century Before: The History of Lincoln Screen Works.”
But don’t get your hopes up, fair-weather Lincoln groupies: There’s almost no chance Daniel Day-Lewis will be there.
The 2013 Lincoln Symposium will be held Saturday, March 23, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the National Archives II in College Park. Registration opens February 1st. For more information, visit www.lincoln-institute.org.
