California University of Pennsylvania will host a traveling exhibition about America’s 16th president and the constitutional struggles he faced during the Civil War.
“Lincoln: The Constitution and the Civil War” is presented by the university’s Department of History and Political Science and the Louis L. Manderino Library. The public may tour the free exhibition Sept. 10-Oct.16 on the library’s first floor.
The National Constitution Center and the American Library Association Public Programs Office organized the exhibition with a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. The traveling display is based on an exhibition of the same name developed by the National Constitution Center.
The library will hold two special events in conjunction with the exhibition:
- Sept. 10: 6 p.m. reception, followed by a 7 p.m. talk, “April 1865,” by Connellsville resident Ken Williams. A former ranger with the National Park Service at Gettysburg, Williams is a Civil War re-enactor, a frequent speaker on Civil War topics and a guide at Fallingwater in Bear Run, Pa.
- Sept. 28: 6 p.m. reception, followed at 7 p.m. by "Abraham Lincoln and the Second American Constitution,” a talk by military historian Dr. Jared Peatman. His award-winning monograph, The Long Shadow of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, was published in 2013. He is also the co-author, with Steven B. Wiley, of A Transformational Journey: Leadership Lessons from Gettysburg.
“The current presidential candidates, and people across society, are grappling with and debating constitutional issues,” says Bill Meloy, research and electronic collections librarian at California University.
“This will give people a chance to step back and ponder the decisions Lincoln made regarding civil liberties in a time of war, when the enemy was right round the corner.”
The exhibition, receptions, and lectures are free and open to the public. For more information about the exhibition, including a brochure and information for teachers, visit http://library.calu.edu/Lincoln.
Manderino Library is open from 7:30 a.m.-11 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays, from 7:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Fridays, from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, and from noon-8 p.m. Sundays. Visitor parking is available in the Vulcan Garage, off Third Street near the campus entrance.