Archives
Staff Spotlight: 10 Questions Kids Ask About Slavery
People often shy away from talking to children about tough, complex subjects like slavery. Working at a Civil War site, those topics are pretty much unavoidable. We polled our front-line staff, including our Museum Program Associates (MPAs), who give guided tours, work with school groups, and field tough questions every day. We wanted to know, what questions have students asked …
Read MoreStaff Spotlight: Our Brave Ideas
Since President Lincoln’s Cottage is a Home for Brave Ideas, we asked staff to reflect on the past ten years: what is a brave idea they have had or witnessed? Read on below: Kevin Lukacs One of the most brave things I’ve witnessed in my life was watching my dad retire from the military. It was difficult for him to …
Read MoreStaff Spotlight: Reflections from AHA Conference
Braving cold temperatures and snow, several staff members of President Lincoln’s Cottage attended the American Historical Association’s 2018 Annual Meeting in early January. The American Historical Association is the largest professional organization serving historians in all fields and all professions, and approximately 4,000 historians attended the conference in Washington D.C. Read below for their reactions to panels on slavery, the Civil …
Read MoreArkansas Resolutions: “Compromise” on the Eve of the Civil War
Arkansas Resolutions: “Compromise” on the Eve of the Civil War by Curtis Harris With each Civil War anniversary, public debate on the cause and meaning of the war as well as the meaning and outcomes of Reconstruction is reinvigorated. That debate has often centered on how we choose to memorialize the war, including who should be memorialized. In October 2017, …
Read MoreThe Loathsome Den– Sexual Assault on the Plantation: #MeToo
The Loathsome Den: Sexual Assault on the Plantation, #MeToo of the 19th century by Curtis Harris In 1868, Elizabeth Keckly published Behind the Scenes: Or, Thirty Years a Slave and Four Years in the White House. The memoir detailed the 50-year old Keckly’s three decades as a slave, how she secured freedom for herself and her son, and her friendship …
Read MoreBlack Reaction to the Emancipation Proclamation
This post is part of our Black History Month blog series. Though many black leaders decried Lincoln’s tardy efforts to act definitively on slavery, when he finally did release the Emancipation Proclamation, both the freed and enslaved African-American community rejoiced at this decisive step towards freedom. Today’s black history month post will highlight a few of these responses.
Read MoreLaw Day 2013: “Realizing the Dream – Equality for All”
American Bar Association President Laurel Bellows recently visited the Cottage to deliver the annual Law Day message. The theme of Law Day this year is “Realizing the Dream – Equality for All.” In the message, President Bellows passionately invokes President Lincoln and the Emancipation Proclamation as the beginning of the end of slavery in this country. View the video here …
Read MorePAST EXHIBIT – Can You Walk Away?
To commemorate the 150th Anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, the Cottage opened “Can You Walk Away? Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking in the United States” in February 2012. This special exhibit challenges perceptions of slavery in America today and raises awareness of a growing humanitarian crisis. By posing the question, “Can you walk away?” this exhibit inspires people to engage …
Read MoreThe Emancipation Proclamation
The Development of Lincoln’s Views on Slavery Among President Lincoln’s many great acts and accomplishments, one of the most significant was the issuing of the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863. By this act, he legally and formally initiated a profound shift in moral perception. The document was developed during the months that Lincoln spent at the Soldiers’ Home.
Read More