Editor's note: The Lincoln
Forum (www.lincolnforum.org)
is an organization dedicated to enhancing "the
understanding and preserving the memory of Abraham Lincoln and
the Civil War." Founded in 1995, the Forum
meets each year in Gettysburg, PA, on the anniversary of
Lincoln's address at the dedication of the Gettysburg National
Cemetery. Several members of the Cleveland Civil War
Roundtable are also members of the Lincoln Forum and attend its
meeting each year. CCWRT past president and Lincoln Forum member
Mel Maurer once again agreed to provide a recap of this
year's event. (Read Mel's
report on the 2007 Forum.)
Our Webmaster, Paul Burkholder, asked
me to report on this year’s Lincoln Forum as I did on last year’s
sessions (“If it would not suck all the pleasure out of attending
for you.”), and I am happy to comply – any opportunity to talk about
my favorite president is good for me. (Sucking and all.) Please
realize that no brief notes of mine can do justice to our speakers –
I only hope to give you a feel for or a sense of what they said.
This, our 13th Forum, was one of the best ever. Its theme was: “The
Forum Launches the Lincoln Bicentennial.”
 These annual symposiums always begin
on November 16 – a Sunday this year. Once again, the Cleveland Civil
War Roundtable was well represented. Attending along with me were
Lou Braman, Anne Davis, Kirk Hinman, Gordon Doble, Dick Crews,
Maynard and Betty Bauer. My son Mike, Rick’s brother, also attended
for the first time.
Mike, Betty and Maynard rode to
Gettysburg with me. Jim Getty, a noted portrayer of Abraham Lincoln
(he once performed for our Roundtable), told me that he would be in
a show that Sunday in Hanover, PA - just 15 miles from Gettysburg.
This show was the “Mount Rushmore Presidents,” so after checking in
for the symposium, we drove to Hanover to see it. It featured, as
you might imagine, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Teddy
Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln (Jim Getty.) The show was presented in
the very nice auditorium of Southwestern High School.
This high school appeared to be new
and is quite modern. The presidents were very well played - each had
about 15 minutes on the program to talk about their experiences,
after being introduced with their favorite songs as played by the
high school’s 24 member chamber music group. Lincoln was introduced
by U.S. Grant. After an intermission, the presidents returned for a
press conference, taking questions from the audience. Those
portraying the presidents, with years of experience as their
subjects, have appeared together several times in this show. They
played off each other very nicely. It would be nice if we could
bring them to Cleveland sometime. It was a wonderful program – a
nice addendum for our trip.
November 16th - Sunday evening –
Opening session…
The Lincoln Forum officially began
as usual with cocktails at 5:30, dinner at 6:00 followed by the
first talk of the session. However before the Forum begins we are
always welcomed to Gettysburg by a local representative. Sometimes
we are welcomed by Gabor Borrit, Lincoln scholar and professor at
Gettysburg College (he spoke to our Roundtable several years ago)
but as I will explain later, Gabor and Harold Holzer, co-chair of
the Forum, had business to attend to at the White House before they
could be with us. Tina Grim, administrator of the Civil War
Institute of Gettysburg College and the Pennsylvania Lincoln
Bicentennial Commission welcomed us as she has in some others years.
Her big news was that Gettysburg is a finalist for acquiring the
Lincoln material from the now closed Lincoln Museum in Ft. Wayne.
The town faces tough competition for this collection from the
Lincoln Museum and Library in Springfield. It was good to know that
whoever wins, the material will some day be on display again. Tina
also told us that the renovation of the Wills House, where Lincoln
stayed in Gettysburg, will be completed by February, when it will
open to the public.
In opening the Forum, its co-chair,
Judge Frank Williams paid tribute to John Y. Simon who died this
past summer. John was a professor at Southern Illinois University
and the country’s leading authority on U. S. Grant. He worked on
Grant’s papers for 17 years, publishing a number of volumes, nearly
completing this work before he died. John Marszalek, who wrote the
definitive book on William T. Sherman, Sherman: A Soldier's Passion for Order , among others, will complete John’s work. Marszalek is a
good friend of our Roundtable – he spoke to our Roundtable four
years ago on General Halleck.
The provocative title of the
evening’s talk was: “Who Won Lincoln’s War? Grant or Sherman?" Jean
Edward Smith, noted biographer – including a book on Grant – spoke
for Grant. John Marszalek went first, presenting the case for
Sherman. John said that Grant and Sherman together made the perfect
officer – they were great partners. He then pointed out that Sherman
revolutionized war (total war), taking much territory and bringing
the war to an end sooner. Sherman also took Atlanta, saving
Lincoln’s presidency – and at one point talked Grant into staying in
the Army when, in despair, he wanted to quit. (No Sherman? No Grant
or Lincoln.)
Smith, who was filling in for John Simon, is an irascible old guy.
(Dick and I thought we had Jean straightened out last year in the
bar but it didn’t last.) He opened his talk by saying this was a
“Silly topic” implying that everyone knows that Grant won the war,
pointing out that Grant was in charge and that Sherman was his
subordinate – Grant, as general in chief, gave the orders. “Grant
was Eisenhower and Sherman was Patton.” Even Sherman, he said,
called Grant the, “Greatest in the war if not of all time.” He went
on to list Grant’s many achievements from Ft. Donelson to
Appomattox. Both speakers were excellent – using humor with
knowledge to make their points. No vote was taken but I suspect that
Grant would have won had there been one.
November 17th - Monday morning
sessions…
The morning session on November
17th with three speakers was arguably the best ever for the Forum.
Allen C. Guelzo, Professor of the Civil War Era at Gettysburg
College, and noted author on Lincoln. (His latest book is Lincoln and Douglas: The Debates that Defined America .) His topic was: “The
Lincoln-Douglas Debates.” Guelzo, an excellent speaker with a
humorous style, first told us what “we thought we knew about the
debates” and then corrected or confirmed the facts of what really
happened in that Senate race in Illinois in 1858. Each of the seven
debates lasted three hours. The first debater, - Douglas led off in
the first debate - spoke for an hour, followed by the second
debater, who spoke for an hour and a half. The first debater then
finished up in 30 minutes. Neither man spoke from a prepared text.
Hecklers, often loud and raucous, were a part of every debate, along
with banners – some mild, some with slurs and other insults. For
Douglas, slavery was merely a controversy while for Lincoln, it was
an issue to be solved. Douglas believed that democracy was an end in
itself – majority rule. Lincoln believed, as Guelzo put it so well,
that democracy was more than “two wolves and a lamb deciding what to
have for dinner.”
Lincoln believed democracy was a
means to an end to ensure people of their natural rights. After a
slow start, Lincoln went on to win the debates but as we know, he
lost the election - in the State Senate. He would have won had there
been a popular vote. I asked Guelzo if Lincoln and Douglas were
really friends as we have often read. He said they were not, and
there was always some jealousy between them. In reply to another
questioner, Guelzo said that Lincoln always used others’ under-estimation of him to his advantage. He then closed with a story that
when a rambunctious senator came to his White House office to
complain to Lincoln about the poor conditions in the country, saying
that “Hell was just a mile off,” Lincoln pointed out that that was
just about the “distance from the White House to the capital.”
Our second speaker that morning was
Jean Baker, professor of history at Goucher College and noted
biographer, including the “still authoritative bio,"
Mary Todd Lincoln: A Biography . Baker is a feisty ole gal, a “great dame” who tells it as
it is with apologies to no one. Her direct style with blunt
statements informed and entertained. She defends Mary against all
comers, so much so, that some years ago when she spoke at the Forum,
I led off my question to her by saying, “Given all that you’ve said
about Mary, I’m surprised we are not called the “Mary Lincoln
Forum.”
Her topic was: “Abraham and Mary: A
166th Wedding Anniversary Assessment.” She opened her talk by saying
that Lincoln was not, “A flowers and chocolate kind of guy.” The
Lincolns were married on November 4, 1842 with about 30 people in
attendance. While it was common in those days to just have initials
engraved on the wedding ring, Lincoln had Mary’s gold ring engraved
with the words, “Love is eternal.” (Maybe the poet in him.) They
were married by an Episcopal minister – who, when he was asking
Lincoln to love, honor and obey etc. was interrupted by Lincoln’s
friend, Judge Brown, who loudly said, “Jesus Christ Lincoln! Those
things are covered by the statutes.” (He probably wasn’t a flowers
and chocolate kind of guy either.)
The spacing of the Lincoln’s
children seems to indicate they used some form of birth control.
Robert, their first child, was named after Mary’s father, William
(Willie) was named after a brother-in-law, William Wallace, Edward
(Eddie) after a local politician and Thomas (Tad) their last, was
named after Lincoln’s father. They were good parents if somewhat
permissive and delighted in showing the children off at parties in
their home.
Baker accuses Lincoln’s one time
law partner, Herndon, who put together a bio on Lincoln soon after
his death, and who did not like Mary (she did not like him either),
for “gross unfairness” to Mary, calling the Lincolns' marriage, “miserable.”
Baker told us that Mary brought more to the marriage than Abe did
but he was in control. They had 22 years together – some good, some
not so good, as with many marriages. I think they did love each
other – a friend of Mary’s said, “Oh, how she did love that man,”
and it’s shame they were not able to eventually retire in peace.
Craig Symonds, professor of history
emeritus at the U. S. Naval Academy (who spoke to our Roundtable a
few years ago) and author of a number of books on naval activities
during the Civil War (his latest book is Lincoln and His Admirals ), spoke next. His topic was: “Lincoln Assumes Command.”
Craig focused on May 1862, when Lincoln cruised down the Potomac to
Hampton Roads, getting seasick along the way, to get an update from
McClelland. “Little Mac” was not at his headquarters when Lincoln
arrived. While waiting for McClelland’s return, and no doubt just
tired of waiting for his generals to do anything, Lincoln noticed a
nearby Confederate Battery, he asked Admiral Goldsborough why it was
not being bombarded – the admiral took the hint and blasted the
battery from his ships, one of which held Lincoln.
The battery was soon abandoned and
Lincoln gave orders to general Wool to secure the battery’s ground.
Lincoln then left in a boat with 20 men to find a good landing place
for the troops. The general’s men took the ground the next morning
and began a march to Norfolk. Realizing Norfolk would soon be taken
and with no time to affect an escape for the Virginia (Merrimac),
the ship was scuttled. Lincoln, as commander had led his first
campaign. Later that month, Lincoln sent McDonald to reinforce
McClelland by land and sent troops to the valley in an attempt to
trap Jackson. It was this month, Craig said that Lincoln became in
fact – the commander in chief. He remained active, directing military
events by telegraph ever after.
After a break for lunch, the
symposium resumed with a talk by author and documentarian, Philip Kundhadrt
III. He and his father put together the ABC movie, “Lincoln,” and
its accompanying book, Lincoln: An Illustrated Biography
about 10 years ago. His new book is in a way a sequel to that one
called: Looking for Lincoln: The Making of an American Icon . It is also based on an upcoming documentary he produced.
His talk was titled: “Looking for Lincoln: The Book and the
Documentary.”
Kundhardt talked of the “Unfolding
of Lincoln in history – his growing reputation after his death and
how the public learned of various aspects of his life. He found the
“richest period” for this was the first 50 years after he died as
the Lincoln we’ve come to know took shape. Robert Lincoln played a
major role in defending and shaping his father’s image. Frederick
Douglass, who helped to form Lincoln’s views on his race, although
he also criticized Lincoln, praised him too, calling him the “Great
man of the century,” and saying that Lincoln’s second inaugural talk
was, “A sacred effort.” Lincoln did see a multi-racial future for
our country and strongly supported the 13th amendment banning
slavery. He also looked ahead to suffrage for Blacks (which may have
cost him his life when Booth heard him say this.)
Kundhart also described a horrible
race riot in Springfield in 1908 with much destruction and many
deaths, Some Blacks were lynched, including Lincoln’s former boot
maker.
As time went on “all (politicians) wanted Lincoln on their side.”
(Teddy Roosevelt wore a ring to his inauguration containing some of
Lincoln’s hair.) The 100th centennial of Lincoln’s birth in 1909 was
thought to be the single largest celebratory even to that time in
our history.
Kundhardt concluded that Lincoln
“was not without blemish” and that he left a “great but imperfect
legacy,” saying something I’ve experienced too – “the more I study
Lincoln, the more he holds up.” He then showed us some scenes from
his documentary which will be on PBS on February 11, 2009. I know
I’ll be watching and recording.
Our final speaker of the day’s
sessions was Edna Greene Medford, Associate Professor and Director
of Graduate Studies in the Department of History at Howard
University. Her topic, one close to her heart as an African
American, was: “What Slaves Expected from Emancipation.”
She first told us how the news
spread to slaves in the rebelling states after Lincoln issued his
Emancipation Proclamation – by word of mouth, by reading of it and
even rumors. They were free! Some, upon hearing the news, packed up
and left immediately. Lincoln knew for the proclamation to be
effective slaves would “have to come over” and many did – 10,000 and
more just to Ft, Monroe. Others overflowed other camps and forts
with some serving as laborers, cooks, guides etc. And, of course,
many Blacks served in the Union army – at least 183,000, in over 400
battles. (Serving even though they received less pay than whites
and received no clothes allowance as the white soldiers did.) Although most slaves
stayed on the plantations – “the thread was pulled”- the terrible
fabric of slavery would now come apart wherever it existed.
While local governments asked for
help in controlling their slaves, no troops were ever sent for that
purpose. One former slave, when told he needed someone to take care
of him, replied that he had been taking care of his master and
himself for years so he knew he could just take care of himself.
Formerly freed slaves helped the newly freed and eventually
sharecropping was initiated but it wasn’t unusual for Blacks to be
cheated in this arrangement. She also repeated what we heard earlier
- Lincoln looked towards education and the suffrage for Blacks. She
also pointed out that Blacks originally didn’t have any problem with
segregated schools as long as they were getting educations. Overall,
Lincoln wanted the races to gradually come to an understanding and then
to come together.
We often hear that the Emancipation
Proclamation didn’t free any slaves since Lincoln was not in control
where they were set free but it’s clear his words did take control
of that hateful institution and that they did set many free. He was
the one who “pulled that thread.”
November 17th - Monday evening
program…
That evening before the speaker was
introduced a new award – The Volk Award – was given to Ford’s
Theater (which will reopen in the new year with a new play on
Lincoln after extensive behind-the-scenes renovations) for its
contribution to the Lincoln Legacy. (I was impressed to see the
award itself was a version of the Lincoln Life Mask from 1860, a
copy of which no one has bought any tickets for this year in our
special Lincoln raffle. I should have tried to sell tickets at the
Forum.)
We then learned that Holzer and
Boritt had missed the first day of the Forum because they were at
the White House receiving, along with others, the Humanitarian of
Arts Award from the president. (Yes, that old excuse.) Both awards
were well deserved especially for Boritt who arrived in our country
as a child, a refugee from oppression in Europe. (As an aside,
Holzer was almost moved to tears when I presented him with one of my
Lincoln label pins – at least it seemed that way to me.)
George Buss, secretary of the Forum
and acclaimed Lincoln portrayer then performed Lincoln’s farewell
address to the people of Springfield as he left for his Inauguration.
(George has presented to our Roundtable twice. Some may remember
that he brought his son, Jordon, with him the first time – just
before Jordon was to leave for the Navy. Jordon is now a Navy Seal –
a medic – and is overseas on assignment. Jordon never forgot the
recognition and thanks we gave him when he was here.)
The evening’s speaker was Harold
Holzer, vice president of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, co-chair
of the Forum, Lincoln scholar and author. His latest book is: Lincoln President-Elect: Abraham Lincoln and the Great Secession Winter 1860-1861 . His topic as you might suspect was: “Abraham
Lincoln: President Elect.”
In opening, Harold told us that
Lincoln did not speak from a prepared text in giving his farewell
remarks which left the reporters unprepared, so he did his best to
write out what he said for them on the train, and in the process
probably improved on his words. (Harold also gave us one insight into
his White House award ceremony, saying that the actress Olivia DeHaviland (“Gone
With the Wind”), age 93, insisted on rehearsing her movements to the
platform to get her award. She politely told the staff that she
never performed without a rehearsal and “was not going to start
now.”)
Harold noted the challenges faced
by president-elect Lincoln, who had only an office in the Illinois
Capitol building with virtually no staff or security despite many
threats on his life. The stock market was also declining. He listed
the major issues facing Lincoln, as some states began to secede from
the Union, as six C’s: compromise, conciliation, constitution,
coalescence (patronage), communication, cabinet and conveyance. I
won’t go into detail on each point (partly because I can’t read some
of my napkin notes) but some of his points were: that Lincoln would
not compromise on the extension of slavery (telling Seward that he
was “inflexible” on the issue), he would not appear in any way to
apologize for his election – he would not be, “a sucked egg,”
someone without principle.
Lincoln also took time to visit his
stepmother - as he left her, she said: “I know they are going to kill
you.” As we know – all too well these days – Lincoln put together a
cabinet of rivals. In picking Cameron for Secretary of War, Lincoln
said, “He has the stink of corruption” but he needed Pennsylvania
representation. (This would pay off 4 years later with its support
of him for another term.) Harold also related the story of the
threats on Lincoln’s life (from several sources) that led him
reluctantly to quietly enter DC causing much derision. Partly to
offset this, he made a number of public appearances and visited
members of the House and Senate and Roger Taney at the Supreme
Court. He also went to the White House without an appointment to see
President Buchanan. Incredibly, Lincoln’s only security briefing
during his pre-presidency was a letter from General Winfred Scott.
November 18th - Tuesday morning
sessions…
Frank Williams opened the day’s events by
reporting on the earlier meeting of the Forum’s board. He told us
that 260 of us were there that year and that 50 more had wanted to
come. He told us the time had come to move next year’s Forum to a
facility with more room for us in Gettysburg – we didn’t really have
to be told the main meeting room was too small since we could barely
move once we were in it, sitting at tables. He then talked briefly
on some bicentennial year events (more
info @ the Lincoln Bicentennial website.) He also said that 250,000 commemorative
books on the bicentennial have been printed for distribution by the
states. There is also a series of Town Hall meetings being held in
different locations around the country. The first Town Hall Meeting
was scheduled for 11/20 in Gettysburg on: "Race, Freedom and
Equality of Opportunity." There will be a different topic for each
one.
As is usual, this year’s winner of
the Platt Family Essay Contest was announced next with much of the
winning essay read to us. Its title is: “Lincoln and His Vindicated
Policy of War.” It was a very scholarly legalistic work and we had
no doubt that the college student writing it has a career in law in
mind. (Maybe inspired by Lincoln.)
Brian Lamb, founder and CEO of
C-SPAN as well of host of several programs on that Network spoke
next. His topic was: “Lincoln and C-SPAN: 15 years of Television
History.” He told us that the new and very expensive Congressional
Visitors Center would open on December 2nd. C-SPAN did not cover
this year’s Forum so Brian had to tell us that “occasionally they
have to cover more than Lincoln.” He then said in the network’s
history it has done over 400 events on Lincoln. He also gave us the
background of the Lincoln-Douglas Debates they instigated about 14
years ago, presented in the towns where the originally took place
(Our friend, George Buss, was Lincoln in some of those debates. We
also learned during this session that George will be appearing in a
play as Lincoln on the “Almanac Trial” next September in Illinois. I
hope to have more information on this before the event).
Brian then told us about an
upcoming program on the White House to run over 5 days starting at
9:00 pm on December 14th on C-SPAN. He said they were granted access
to every room they wished to record. It promises to be an in depth
tour and history of the place. (It may be well too to have this
record of it since it may not withstand the estimated 4 million
visitors expected in DC for the Inauguration.)
He then turned the tables on us,
asking for our input and ideas for a program planned for next year
which will run for 48 straight hours on a weekend, focusing on all
aspects of our country. He received a number of suggestions
including one from Dick Crews and one from me. He appeared to be
writing them down so we’ll have to see if any get used in the
program.
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“Lincoln
in Myth and Memory” panelists Gerry Prokowicz, Ed Steers Jr., James Percoco
and Harold Holzer
|
Brian was followed by our
traditional panel discussion – this year consisting of Harold Holzer,
Ed Steers Jr. (author on several books on Lincoln’s assassination),
Gerry Prokowicz (Professor of History at East Carolina University)
and James Percoco (History Educator in Residence at the American
University in DC.) Frank Williams served as MC. Their topic was;
“Lincoln in Myth and Memory.”
Each panelist started by offering
their favorite myth or pet peeve myth on Lincoln. Gerry said he
always liked the old one that claimed Lincoln was born in a log
cabin that Lincoln helped to build with his father. He said his
peeve was the myth that Johnson carried out Lincoln’s policies on
reconstruction – he did not! Ed related a story about an imaginary
undercover man for the Union named, Andrew Potter, about whom great
stories are told – but he never did exist. One thing that this
Potter allegedly did was to investigate the death of Lincoln,
conducting 200 interviews and finding that Stanton and others were
involved – all lies, Ed said - never happened. Percoco said his
favorite is one that says if you look at the back of the Lincoln
figure in his memorial you can see Lee looking towards Arlington.
Not true. He went on to say the myth that Lincoln’s hands (one
opened and one a fist) read “A.L." in sign language may have some
validity since Lincoln was interested in the deaf. Harold said it’s
a myth that Lincoln was only involved in Slavery for political
reasons and that while some of his words and actions in today’s
world would be considered to be racist they were not back then, but
rather were progressive. (No one touched the myth that Lincoln may
have been gay.) Another panelist – whom my notes leave unnamed -
said it was not true that Lincoln ever said, “Beware of big
business.”
When we had the opportunity to ask
questions, I asked Steers if the Confederate government was involved
in the assassination. He said the evidence was clear that Booth
received support from Confederate agents – financial and
introductions to people like Mudd – but exactly what actions they
were supporting is not clear – kidnapping, murder? There is also no
evidence that Jeff Davis knew of Booth’s involvement. Legally, since
the Confederate agents were somehow involved in a conspiracy that
eventually led to Lincoln’s death, they would have been held
responsible as were the others that were tried for the crime. Ed
also pointed out that he is frequently quoted as saying Jeff Davis
killed Lincoln. He did not – he said in his book that Booth killed
Lincoln – period. These panels are always good and this one was no
exception.
November 18th - Tuesday
afternoon…
After lunch at the Dobbin House,
busses took the attendees to the new Visitors Center and Museum. I
drove there with the Bauers, Dick and Mike so we could also visit
the battlefield later. As we left the hotel for our car we ran into
Ken Burns (our speaker for that evening) who had just parked, so we
were the first to welcome him to Gettysburg. We spent a couple of
hours at the center, looking at exhibits, watching its movie and
seeing the Cyclorama (and checking out the gift/book shop). Many of
the Forum authors, including Burns, were signing books at the center
that afternoon.
Dick and I had given Mike (who had
not been to Gettysburg in years) a brief tour of the battlefield on
Monday, except for Culp’s Hill. We wanted to do the Hill and to find
a relatively new monument that Maynard promised to find for a friend
– one for the 11th Mississippi Infantry, which actually made it
farther than any other rebels did. (A new high mark for the
Confederacy?) Maynard received directions to this monument at the
Visitors Center so we knew almost exactly where to locate it. Even
with those directions we had to look around a bit to finally find
it, just south of the stone wall across from the old Cyclorama
building. It sets almost at the foot of the wall making it almost
impossible to see from the road. And, as you can see, we took some
pictures.
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The new monument honoring the
11th Mississippi Infantry
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November 18th - Tuesday evening…
Our friend, Jim Getty, who usually
does the Gettysburg Address on our last night together, did another
talk of Lincoln’s this time – Lincoln’s Address to the New Jersey
Legislature – given on his way to DC. Speaking from memory, Jim did
a great job. It’s interesting to note that most of Jim’s work as
Lincoln is giving talks on leadership to corporate groups.
Harold Holzer then made this year’s
presentation of the Forum’s Richard Nelson Currant Award of Achieve
– to Ken Burns. In accepting, Burns talked of his love of Lincoln
and Civil War history – telling us that it was reading the book, The Killer Angels in 1984 that inspired him to do his highly acclaimed
PBS series on the Civil War. (Our Roundtable picked that book as the
best ever written on the war – as presented by Jon Thompson –
several years ago in our annual debate.) Burns is an excellent
speaker and when occasionally he softly said “Listen,” everyone did,
as we knew something good was about to be said. He spoke of many
events and people in the war during his talk, saying how they looked
for ordinary folk’s stories for his documentary. He used Chamberlain
as an example of an ordinary guy who, when called to serve, gave his
all for the country. “He’s the kind of man we need” Burns said. In
the process of telling little stories of common men in the war he
told of some Confederates that were captured including a former
blacksmith, and then in conclusion he told us that the captured
blacksmith was his great grandfather. He didn’t take any questions
so we didn’t get to ask him what he’s working on now.
Frank thanked Ken and then
adjourned the Forum until next year.
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Design for
The new Lincoln dollar
(obverse & reverse)
to be released in early 2009
|
November 19th Wednesday morning…
Although not a part of the Forum,
many of us attend the annual anniversary of the Gettysburg Address
at the National Cemetery on the 19th. The chilling cold weather (25
degrees) gave us some reason to reconsider whether to go or not but
after breakfast at the Lincoln Diner (a tradition for us) we decided
to attend. (This was my coldest trip yet in 9 years – the weather is
usually upwards of 40 and was once even 68.) Jim Getty, as Lincoln,
gave the Gettysburg address, Harold Holzer unveiled the new Lincoln
Commemorative Dollar – out in early 2009. (More
info at the US Mint.)
Ken Burns was then introduced as the main speaker. He gave another
great talk touching on familiar but different themes from his talk
to the Forum. There were more people at the ceremony than ever
before – by far. The program was blessedly short, given the weather,
and we left for home at 11:15.
Taking notes for this summary did
“not suck” as Paul suspected it might – my hope now is that my
words don’t suck either.
The Lincoln Forum website
Books referenced in this article:
Roll-over a book title to bring up more information on that
book; click the book title to purchase from Amazon.com. Part of the proceeds from any book purchased from Amazon
through the CCWRT website are returned to the CCWRT to support its
education and preservation programs. Sherman: A Soldier's Passion for Order
By John Marszalek Lincoln and Douglas: The Debates that Defined America
By Allen C. Guelzo
Mary Todd Lincoln: A Biography
By Jean Baker Lincoln and His Admirals
By Craig Symonds Lincoln: An Illustrated Biography
By Philip Kundhadrt III Looking for Lincoln: The Making of an American Icon
By Philip Kundhadrt III Lincoln President-Elect: Abraham Lincoln and the Great Secession Winter 1860-1861
By Harold Holzer The Killer Angels
By Michael Shaara More
Civil War titles at the Roundtable Bookstore |
