Lincoln And The Civil War

Shirley Samuels, professor of English and American studies at Cornell University and the Los Angeles Times Distinguished Fellow, examines the relationship between pictures of Abraham Lincoln and the language that he used in famous speeches.

Joan Waugh discusses how the Civil War Sesquicentennial is being commemorated, focusing on selected events from 1863 (including the Battle of Gettysburg) and exploring how memory traditions have shaped the war’s legacy. Waugh is professor of history at UCLA and the Rogers Distinguished Fellow in 19th–Century American History at The Huntington in 2013–14.

Bruce Levine, author of “The Fall of the House of Dixie,” discusses the specific social and political forces that launched and shaped the revolutionary process of the Civil War. Levine is professor of history at the University of Illinois, Urbana, and the Rogers Distinguished Fellow in 19th-Century American History for 2012–13.

Drew Gilpin Faust, author of “This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War,” talks about the new PBS documentary by Ric Burns, “Death and the Civil War,” which was based on her award-winning book. Faust is president of Harvard University.

Bruce Levine discusses the demise of the south and the destruction of slavery. Levine is the author of "The Fall of the House of Dixie: The Civil War and the Social Revolution that Transformed the South." He is professor of history and African American studies at the University of Illinois and the Rogers Distinguished Fellow of 19th-Century American History at The Huntington Library for 2012-13.

Nina Silber explores how the Civil War— concluded some 70 years earlier—emerged with remarkable force in the years of the Great Depression and the New Deal, coming to life in American novels, theater, films, and politics. Silber is professor of history at Boston University. This talk was the 2011–12 Nevins Lecture.

Harry Stout reflects on the timeless oration of Abraham Lincoln’s second inaugural address, which may be considered America’s greatest sermon. Stout is professor of American religious history at Yale University and the Rogers Distinguished Fellow at The Huntington for 2011–12.

Historian Sean Wilentz discusses Abraham Lincoln as a cunning and partisan politician. Wilentz is The Huntington’s Los Angeles Times Fellow for 2010–11 and the George Henry Davis 1886 Professor of American History at Princeton University.

Frederick Douglass, former slave and great African American statesman, wrote three autobiographies that reveal—and hide—many elements of his life. David W. Blight, author of the forthcoming Frederick Douglass: A Life, examines how the biographer probes through and beyond Douglass’ own story to capture a complete picture..Blight is the Rogers Distinguished Fellow at The Huntington for 2010–11. He is the Class of 1954 Professor of American History at Yale University and the director of the Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance & Abolition.

Author Ronald C. White Jr. discusses his latest book, "A. Lincoln: A Biography."

To mark the bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln's birth, The Huntington brought together a distinguished group of scholars to discuss America's 16th president, his times, and his historical impact.

To mark the bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln’s birth, The Huntington brought together a distinguished group of scholars to discuss America’s 16th president, his times, and his historical impact. The conference, “A Lincoln for the Twenty-First Century,” took place in April 2009. Stephen B. Cushman is the Robert C. Taylor Professor of American Literature and Poetry at the University of Virginia.

To mark the bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln’s birth, The Huntington brought together a distinguished group of scholars to discuss America’s 16th president, his times, and his historical impact. The conference, “A Lincoln for the Twenty-First Century,” took place in April 2009. Daniel Walker Howe is Rhodes Professor of American History Emeritus at Oxford University and professor of history emeritus at UCLA. He won the Pulitzer Prize in 2008 for his book What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815–1848.

To mark the bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln’s birth, The Huntington brought together a distinguished group of scholars to discuss America’s 16th president, his times, and his historical impact. The conference, “A Lincoln for the Twenty-First Century,” took place in April 2009. David Blight is the Class of 1954 Professor of American History at Yale University and the director of the Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance & Abolition.