Lincoln Forum Announces Roster For 2019 Symposium: “The Leader. The War. The Legacy: Lincoln At 210”

Originally published June 2019 · p. 26

Lincoln Forum Announces Roster For 2019 Symposium: “The Leader. The War. The Legacy: Lincoln At 210” Presidential Historian Michael Beschloss to Deliver November 18 Keynote GETTYSBURG, Penn.— Some of the most popular and respected Civil War Era historians will appear at the 24th annual Lincoln Forum Symposium when it re-convenes at the Wyndham Hotel Gettysburg from Saturday, November 16 through Monday, November 18. The Forum announced that its 2019 keynote speaker will be award-winning author Michael Beschloss, best-selling author of 10 books, and a regular commentator on NBC, MSNBC, and PBS. Newsweek has called Beschloss “the nation’s leading Presidential historian,” while the Charlotte Observer has said he “knows more about” America’s presidents “than perhaps anyone on earth.” The New York Times Book Review noted that he is “easily the most widely recognized Presidential historian in the United States.” In 2005, Beschloss won an Emmy for his role in creating the Discovery Channel series, Decisions that Shook the World, which he also hosted. His most recent book is the critically acclaimed New York Times best-seller, Presidents of War: The Epic Story, from 1807 to Modern Times (2018). Commented Forum Chairman Harold Holzer: “We are proud to be offering another extraordinary roster of acclaimed speakers and programs as we mark not only the 24th anniversary of the Lincoln Forum but also the 210th birthday of Abraham Lincoln. What all our lecturers and panelists demonstrate, in their scholarship and their mesmerizing personal appearances, is that Lincoln and the Civil War story, familiar as they seem, continue to inspire fresh analysis, interpretation, and discussion. It is a special pleasure to be welcoming my friend Michael Beschloss, and to be welcoming back Professor Jonathan White in his new role as Vice Chairman of the Lincoln Forum. We look forward to welcoming all of our new and returning star historians, as well as our Forum family of students, scholars, and enthusiasts.” To open the Forum on November 16, Gary W. Gallagher and Joan Waugh will return to address the perennial question: “What Caused the Civil War?” Dr. Gallagher taught for more than 20 years at the University of Virginia, where he was the John L. Nau III Professor in the History of the American Civil War and the Director of the Nau Civil War Center. He is the author or editor of nearly 30 books, including The Confederate War (1997) and The Union War (2011). Waugh is a professor of history at UCLA and the author or editor of numerous books and articles, including her prize-winning U.S. Grant: American Hero, American Myth (2009), The Memory of the Civil War in American Culture (2004), and most recently, The American

War: A History of the Civil War Era (2015), which she coauthored with Gallagher. On the morning of November 17, three leading historians will discuss Lincoln’s relationship with Union soldiers. Peter S. Carmichael, the Robert C. Fluhrer Professor of Civil War Studies and Director of the Civil War Institute at Gettysburg College, will explore the experiences of ordinary soldiers based on his new book, The War for the Common Soldier: How Men Thought, Fought, and Survived in Civil War Armies (2018). Elizabeth R. Varon, the Langbourne M. Williams Professor of American History at the University of Virginia, will discuss how northerners were drawn to Lincoln’s Unionist message, based on her widely praised new book, Armies of Deliverance: A New History of the Civil War (2019). And Brian R. Dirck, professor of history at Anderson University, will explore Lincoln’s lifelong relationship with death, from the loss of his mother in 1818 to the terrible carnage of the Civil War, based on his latest book, The Black Heavens: Abraham Lincoln and Death (2019). Other speakers that day will include Forum Executive Committee member Edna Greene Medford of Howard University, who will focus on Lincoln, race, and freedom, and Lincoln biographer and former White House aide Sidney Blumenthal, who will discuss the latest installment in his multi-volume biography, The Political Life of Abraham, Lincoln. On November 18, maritime historian Anna Gibson Holloway and the new Lincoln Forum Vice Chair Jonathan W. White will each discuss their recent co-authored book, “Our Little Monitor”: The Greatest Invention of the Civil War (2018). White will explain Lincoln’s connections to that famous ironclad vessel, including his 1862 visits to see her, while Holloway will offer a colorful and engaging portrayal of the Monitor’s image in American popular culture from the 1862 Battle of Hampton Roads to the present. One not-to-be-missed panel session on November 17 will explore the controversial Confederate monument issue, featuring Gallagher, Medford, and Varon, with Holzer (who addressed the topic as the Gettysburg National Cemetery Remembrance Day speaker in 2017) as moderator. On November 18, Matthew Pinsker, the Pohanka Chair in American Civil War History at Dickinson College, and William A. Blair, Penn State’s Helen P. Ferree Professor of Middle American History and director of the Richards Civil War Era Center, will join White and Forum Chairman Emeritus Frank J. Williams to discuss the elections of 1860 and 1864—focusing on who voted, who didn’t, and who couldn’t. Peerless Lincoln enactor George Buss will present two different readings from the 16th president’s storied writings, including, as always, the Gettysburg Address. The small-group breakout sessions on November 18 will include the perennial Forum favorite, “Cooking with the Chief (Frank Williams) and the Chef (the Wyndham’s Andrew Ernst),” as well as a battlefield tour concentrating on Pickett’s Charge. Other breakout sessions will offer one-on-one discussions on the Civil War Navy (featuring Lincoln Prize-winning naval historian Craig L. Symonds and Anna Holloway), Lincoln and the Constitution (White and Dirck), Bibliophile Daniel R. Weinberg (“Artifact Stories: What’s New in Lincolniana,” plus a session on Lincoln sculpture (featuring the unveiling of a long-lost Lincoln bronze mask by the proprietors of a leading North Carolina art gallery). Keeping with tradition, The Forum will present its annual lifetime achievement citation—the coveted Richard Nelson Current Award—as well as it’s Wendy Allen Award for institutional excellence. This year, the Forum is also inaugurating a $1,000 prize for the finest Lincoln book of the year. As always, The Forum offers enrollees two breakfasts, two lunches, and three banquet dinners. For more information on Forum XXIV, consult the organization’s website: www. thelincolnforum.org.