Lincoln: The Constitution and the Civil War

The Horace W. Sturgis Library and the Civil War Center at Kennesaw State University proudly announce the opening of a new exhibition, “Lincoln: The Constitution and the Civil War” on May 21, 2012. The Sturgis Library is one of only 25 libraries in the United States selected to host the traveling exhibition, which was organized by the National Constitution Center, Philadelphia, and the American Library Association (ALA) Public Programs Office, Chicago. Based upon an original interactive exhibit developed by the National Constitution Center, this traveling version explores Lincoln’s struggle to resolve the basic questions that divided Americans at the most perilous moment in the nation’s history: Was the United States truly one nation, or was it a confederacy of sovereign and separate states? How could a country founded on the belief that “all men are created equal” tolerate slavery? In a national crisis, would civil liberties be secure? President Lincoln used the Constitution to confront the secession of Southern states, slavery and wartime civil liberties. Lincoln’s decisions about these three intertwined crises of war reinvented the Constitution and the promise of American life. This exhibition develops a more complete understanding of Abraham Lincoln as president and the Civil War as the nation’s gravest constitutional crisis. The “Lincoln: The Constitution and the Civil War” traveling exhibition is made possible by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH): great ideas brought to life. We would like to invite you to a special preview of the exhibition on Monday, May 21, 2012 at 12:30pm in the Atrium of the Social Sciences Building on the campus of Kennesaw State University. Dr. Oral Moses, Professor of Voice at KSU and member of The Georgia Spiritual Ensemble, will be the guest performer and will sing a selection of Negro Spirituals for the opening event. Please contact Alan Lebish at (770) 423-6192, or email alebish@kennesaw.edu, if you have questions. We hope you can join us as we introduce this exciting exhibition to our community.