Abraham Lincoln Institute, Inc.

Fourth Annual Symposium - March 23, 2001

"The Latest in Lincoln Scholarship" in Honor of Smithsonian’s "The American Presidency"

Co-sponsored by the Abraham Lincoln Institute of the Mid-Atlantic, Inc. and the Smithsonian.
The 2001 Symposium was held at the National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C.

Lincoln’s actions and attitudes toward African-Americans, slavery, and emancipation were the focus of this year’s event, and four important academic scholars grappled with controversial questions such as:

What did Abraham Lincoln think about people of color?
What was his relationship with the radical black abolitionists of his day in general, and with the towering figure of Frederick Douglass in particular?

Lincoln with his generals.

THE PRESENTATIONS

Professor Robert Bray – Illinois Wesleyan University

"‘He Will be Good/ But God Knows When’: Lincoln, ‘Infidelity,’ and Nineteenth Century Evangelicalism
Introduced by Steven Lee Carson

Professor Howard Jones – University of Alabama

"Abraham Lincoln: Racist?
Introduced by Edward C. Smith

Professor Manisha Sinha – University of Massachusetts at Amherst

"Allies for Emancipation?: Lincoln and Black Abolitionists
Introduced by Jennifer Fleischner

David W. Blight – Amherst College

"‘Kin’: The Political and Rhetorical Relationship Between Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln
Introduced by Terry Alford

Professor Michael Vorenberg – Brown University

"‘The King’s Cure’: Abraham Lincoln, the Thirteenth Amendment, and the Fate of Slavery
Introduced by William C. Harris

Speakers’ Panel – Featuring’s the Symposium’s Six Presenters

Responding to Informal Comments From Each Other, and Questions From the Audience – Moderator: Paul H. Verduin

First Annual Hay-Nicolay Dissertation Prize Presentation

Fourth Annual Abraham Lincoln Institute Book Award Prize Presentation