Hiram Library display takes a look at Lincoln

Staff report

HIRAM

The Hiram College Library will host the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History’s national touring panel exhibition “Looking at Lincoln: Political Cartoons from the Civil War Era” Friday through Oct. 11.

The exhibition focuses on images of Abraham Lincoln through the political cartoonists of his time. Though some people may be offended by the language used in this exhibit, visitors are asked to remember that the exhibit is a reflection of 19th-century America.

A formal unveiling event will be at 3 p.m. Friday on the first floor of the library. Douglas Brattebo, interim director of the Center for the Study of Ethics and Values, who is teaching an interdisciplinary seminar on Lincoln, will speak. Refreshments will be available.

As Americans continue to weigh the legacy of slavery, this exhibit allows viewers to explore the issue as it appeared in newspapers during the Civil War era.

Sometimes sharp and offensive, the images of Lincoln offered in this exhibition reveal an America deeply entrenched in racism juxtaposed with one of the exhibition’s highlights: a copy of a rare printing of the Emancipation Proclamation signed by Abraham Lincoln from the Gilder Lehrman Collection.

“Looking at Lincoln” focuses on the election of 1860, the Emancipation Proclamation and the legacy of the emancipation as it carries through today. Developed by GLI and curated by Susan F. Saidenberg, director of exhibitions, with Abigail Burns, program coordinator, this national touring exhibition is made possible by funding from the Gilder Lehrman Institute.

The exhibit will be on display on the first floor of the library during regular hours. Library hours can be found at http://library. hiram.edu/hours.html.

Founded in 1994, the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History actively promotes the study and love of American history. The institute serves teachers, students, scholars and the general public in creating history-centered schools, organizing seminars and programs for educators, producing print and electronic publications and traveling exhibitions, sponsoring lectures by eminent historians and administering a History Teacher of the Year Award in every state.

The institute awards the Lincoln, Frederick Douglass and George Washington Book Prizes and offers fellowships for scholars to work in the Gilder Lehrman Collection. The institute maintains two award- winning websites, www.gilderlehrman.org and the quarterly online journal www.historynow.org.