“Forever Free” Lincoln Exhibit At Milner Library, Aug. 25 – Oct. 5

Date: 7/31/07
Contact: Toni Tucker

Illinois State University’s Milner Library is one a select group of academic and public libraries across the nation chosen to host the traveling exhibit “Forever Free: Abraham Lincoln’s Journey to Emancipation.” The exhibit will be on display on the Main Floor of Milner Library from Thursday, Aug. 23 to Friday, Oct. 5, in conjunction with the University’s yearlong 150th Celebration.

A public reception to mark the opening of the exhibit will be held on Saturday, Aug. 25, beginning at 6:30 p.m. on the Main Floor of Milner Library.

The large panel exhibit reexamines Lincoln’s efforts toward the abolition of slavery during the Civil War. The panels contain reproductions of rare historical documents, period photographs and illustrative material, such as engravings, lithographs and political cartoons. The exhibit is divided into sections focusing on young Lincoln’s America, the dividing nation, the Civil War, the Emancipation Proclamation, the role of black soldiers, and the final months of the Civil War and of Lincoln’s life.

For more information on the exhibit, associated events presented by community partners, and guided tours for schoolchildren, visit www.library.ilstu.edu/foreverfree/

Free public lectures on Lincoln’s life and political career will be presented in conjunction with the exhibit. “The Emancipation Proclamation: Fatal Blow to Slavery Struck by a Central Illinois Lawyer” will be presented by Bloomington attorney and Lincoln scholar Guy Fraker on Tuesday, Aug. 28 at 7 p.m. on the Main Floor of Milner Library.

On Thursday, Sept. 6, Mark A. Plummer, Illinois State professor emeritus of history, will present “Emancipation Defended: Lincoln’s Letter and the Springfield Rally, Sept. 3, 1863.” His presentation will be held at 7 p.m. that evening on the Main Floor of Milner Library.

Historian and author James W. Loewen will present “Lies My Teacher Told Me and How to Avoid Them: Teaching Lincoln and the Emancipation Proclamation” at 4 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 13 at 4 p.m. on the Main Floor of Milner Library. A book signing will precede the event at 3 p.m. Loewen’s book, Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your High School History Textbook Got Wrong (2005) focuses on alleged errors and deliberate omissions in history textbooks and on the lack of controversy that, he claims, would make learning history exciting.

Pulitzer Prize winning historian Doris Kearns Goodwin will present “Leadership Lessons from Abraham Lincoln” at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 18, in Illinois State’s Braden Auditorium. She will also hold an informal question and answer session that afternoon at 2 p.m. at Illinois Wesleyan University. Goodwin is a featured speaker for Illinois State’s 150th Celebration. She is the author of a number of books including Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln (2005).

On Thursday, Sept. 27 at 1 p.m., a re-enactment of a portion of the Lincoln-Douglas debates will take place on the Milner Library Plaza. “A Discussion with President Lincoln and Judge Douglas” will be presented by veteran Lincoln and Douglas interpreters Timothy Connors and George Buss.

That evening at 7 p.m., historian Roger D. Bridges will present “African American Responses to Emancipation and the Emancipation Proclamation” on the Main Floor of Milner Library. Bridges is executive director emeritus of the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center. Prior to that, he was the founding editor of the Lincoln Legal Papers and director of the Illinois State Historical Library in Springfield.

A number of Bloomington-Normal and University-based partners are supporting the local display of the “Forever Free” exhibit and sharing in related events and activities. Partners include Illinois State’s Department of History and the Milner Library-based Adventures of the American Mind project; Alliance Library System; Bloomington Public Library; Bloomington School District 87; the Children’s Discovery Museum; the David Davis Mansion; the McLean County Museum of History; the McLean County Visitors Bureau; and the Normal Public Library.

“Forever Free: Abraham Lincoln’s Journey to Emancipation” has been organized by the Huntington Library, San Marino, California, and the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, New York City, in cooperation with the American Library Association Public Programs Office. This exhibition was made possible by major grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, promoting excellence in the humanities, and the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission, created by Congress and charged with planning the national celebration of Lincoln’s 200th birthday.