Traveling exhibition tells the story of Abraham Lincoln’s struggle to meet the Constitutional challenges of the Civil War
Fredonia will host, “Lincoln: The Constitution and the Civil War,” a traveling exhibition, in Reed Library. Opening March 25, the exhibit examines how President Abraham Lincoln used the Constitution to confront three intertwined crises of the Civil War: the secession of Southern states, slavery and wartime civil liberties.
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| Dr. Fitzhugh Brundage |
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| The Excelsior Cornet Band |
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| Mark Dunkelman (photo by Jake Rowland) |
The exhibition is composed of informative panels featuring photographic reproductions of original documents, including a draft of Lincoln’s first inaugural speech, the Emancipation Proclamation and the Thirteenth Amendment. The public is invited to visit the exhibit any time that Reed Library is open.
The university will also host several events throughout the duration of the exhibit, and all are free and open to the public. The opening ceremony will take place on Wednesday, March 25. Fitzhugh Brundage, William B. Umstead Professor of History at the University of North Carolina, will start off a month of discussions with his presentation, “The Civil War Is Over!” in the Multipurpose Room of the Williams Center. An accomplished scholar, Dr. Brundage’s work includes “The Southern Past: A Clash of Race and Memory,” which has received multiple awards. He is also the recipient of a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship. Following Brundage’s presentation, The Excelsior Cornet Band, New York State’s only authentic Civil War brass band, will enlighten, educate, and entertain the audience using antique instruments that date back to the 1860s. Refreshments will be served and doors open at 6:30 p.m.
On March 30 at 4 p.m. in Mason Hall Room 1080, S.F.C.J. Mark Reilly, the Master Drummer with the U.S. Army Old Guard, the main musical group for preservation of the Revolutionary and Civil War periods, will present a clinic on rope drumming styles then and now. Participants should bring practice pads and sticks; observers are also welcome. The event is sponsored by the Fredonia Percussion Guild and the Student Association.
Mark Dunkelman, regimental historian of the 154th New York Volunteer Infantry, will discuss “Lincoln through the Eyes of a Civil War Regiment” on Wednesday, April 8 at 7 p.m. in the Williams Center Horizon Room. Mr. Dunkelman has been a dedicated scholar of the 154th since learning as a child that his great-grandfather served in the regiment. He is the author of, “The Hardtack Regiment: An Illustrated History of the 154th Regiment, New York State Infantry Volunteers,” with Michael J. Winey. Interested parties can learn more about his work at http://www.hardtackregiment.com/.
A group of Civil War reenactors will encamp on the Fredonia campus from the evening of Thursday, April 9 through Sunday, April 12. Representing the 9th New York Cavalry (a group that was based out of Westfield) and the 4th South Carolina regiments, the reenactors will provide a window into the experiences of both Union and Confederate soldiers. Visitors will have a chance to see how soldiers camped, prepared their foods, and examples of the weapons that would have been used. The reenactors will encamp on “Three Man Hill,” near Ring Road and the Rockefeller Arts Center. The public is welcome to visit at any time during daylight hours.
Finally, on Thursday, April 23, at 12:30 p.m., in Williams Center Room S204, Fredonia professors and staff will engage in a roundtable discussion about voting rights in the United States. Bruce Simon, associate professor in the Department of English, will examine voting rights though the lens of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s, “Chiefly about War Matters,” Frederick Douglass’ “The Heroic Slave” and Herman Melville’s “Benito Cereno.” Jonathan Chausovsky, associate professor in the Department of Politics and International Affairs, will discuss the Voting Rights Act, the Supreme Court, and the contemporary war on voting. Randy Hohle, assistant professor in the Department of Sociology, Anthropology, Social Work, and Criminal Justice, will address the ways that unequal access to the vote has eroded the citizenship rights of people of color and contributed to the development of mass incarceration. Jellema Stewart, director of the Center for Multicultural Affairs (CMA), will discuss student voting, particularly as it relates to student groups under the umbrella of the CMA. The panel will be moderated by Professor Mary Beth Sievens of the Department of History.
The National Constitution Center and the American Library Association Public Programs Office organized the traveling exhibition, which was made possible by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). The traveling exhibition is based on an exhibition of the same name developed by the National Constitution Center. Additional funding has been provided by the Carnahan-Jackson Foundation, the Faculty Student Association and the Graebner-Bennett History Department Cultural Fund.
For more information, contact Dr. Hildebrand, jennifer.hildebrand@fredonia.edu for more information. “Lincoln: The Constitution and the Civil War,” will be on display at the library until April 29.
