Abraham Lincoln's Bicentennial February 12, 2009

Abraham Lincoln's Bicentennial
February 12, 2009

Alexander Gardner (1821-1882), Abraham Lincoln, February 5, 1865. Photographic print. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

[1]

This morning Edie Manza presented examples of state humanities council activities on the Lincoln bicentennial to members of the National Council on the Humanities.

She noted that the November 2008 issue of the Oklahoma Humanities Council [2]'s Oklahoma Humanities Magazine featured the essay, "What America Means to Me," by 5th-grader Manuel Hogan of Midwest City. Manuel wrote that

"I believe being an American means knowing where you come from and being proud of who you are. My name is Manuel Hogan and I’m the great-great-grandson of Jess Copeland, a runaway slave. I can read, write, and my belly is full. Most of all, I am FREE!"

She also highlighted the K [3]entucky [4] Humanities Council [5] "Our Lincoln" event presented last week at Washington's Kennedy Center; the Nebraska Humanities Council [6]'s four-day Lincoln celebration in Lincoln, featuring historian Doris Kearns Goodwin; Mass Humanities [7]' performance about the Lincoln-Douglas debates today at the State House in Boston; grants made by the Maryland Humanities Council [8] to support Lincoln Bicentennial programming at Montgomery Community College; the New Hampshire Humanities Council [9]'s request for proposals about Lincoln; the West Virginia Humanities Council [10]'s series of Lincoln lectures; and the teacher resource on Lincoln and his bicentennial being developed by Humanities Texas [11].

NEH's Helen Agüera, of the Division of Preservation and Access, sent NEH staff links to newspaper articles published one hundred years ago, on Lincoln's centennial. Helen notes that they can be found in Chronicling America (http://www.loc.gov/chroniclingamerica/home.html [12]), the website of historic newspapers produced by the National Digital Newspaper Program (http://www.neh.gov/projects/ndnp.html [13]). "NDNP is a grant program of the Division of Preservation and Access and is a partnership between the NEH, the Library of Congress, and state projects to enhance access to these important historical sources."

"The Birthplace of Lincoln," Hopkinsville Kentuckian, Feb. 11, 1909 Persistent Link http://www.loc.gov/chroniclingamerica/lccn/sn86069395/1909-02-11/ed-1/seq-6 [14]

To enlarge the newspaper image, use the ZOOM feature (+) or the DRAW ZOOM BOX capability in the dark blue bar on top the newspaper page image. Alternatively, click on the PDF version to move around the page as you would in any other PDF image. To get to another page of the same issue, click on Previous Page | Next Page.

New-York Tribune (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, February 13, 1909 Persistent Link http://www.loc.gov/chroniclingamerica/lccn/sn83030214/1909-02-13/ed-1/seq-1 [15] (first 4 pages of issue relate to Lincoln)
Deseret Evening News (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, February 12, 1909, Persistent Link http://www.loc.gov/chroniclingamerica/lccn/sn83045555/1909-02-12/ed-1/seq-1 [16], University of Utah, Marriott Library

NEH's EDSITEment [17] web portal has developed a Teaching Abraham Lincoln resource center for teachers and students.

FEDERAL/STATE PARTNERSHIP
National Endowment for the Humanities
1100 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Suite 603
Washington, DC 20506
202.606.8254, main number
202.606.8365, fax

Edie Manza [18], director
202.606.8257
Kathleen Mitchell [19], senior program officer
202.606.8302
Shirley Newman [20], program assistant
202.606.8254
Dwan Reece [21], senior program officer
202.606.8266

Federal/State Partnership is the liaison
between the National Endowment for the Humanities
and the nonprofit network of 56 state and jurisdictional humanities councils.

visit www.neh.gov [22] to keep up with the
National Endowment for the Humanities