Cortland County Historical Society would like to invite you to the opening of a new exhibition, “Lincoln: The Constitution and the Civil War,” a national traveling exhibition which focuses on Abraham Lincoln’s struggle to meet the constitutional challenges of the Civil War. The exhibit opens at the CNY Living History Center on May 15 and runs until June 19.
Abraham Lincoln was elected the sixteenth President of the United States in 1860, at a time when the nation was falling apart. By the time he took the oath of office, seven states had already seceded from the Union. The exhibition vividly evokes 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?
The NationalConstitutionCenter and the American Library Association Public Programs Office organized the exhibit with the help of a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH): great ideas brought to life. The traveling exhibition is based on an exhibition of the same name developed by the National Constitution Center.
Cortland County Historical Society is offering free programs and other events for the public in connection with the exhibition. Please call Mindy Leisenring at (607) 756-6071 or send an e-mail to info@cortlandhistory.com.
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