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NOTED AUTHORS, SCHOLARS TO DISCUSS ABRAHAM LINCOLN’S LEGACY AT FREE PUBLIC ROUNDTABLE

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ATLANTA, GA, October 3, 2008.  The Georgia Historical Society and the Georgia Humanities Council, with support from Georgia Public Broadcasting, invite the public to a roundtable discussion, Profiles in Leadership - Abraham Lincoln: Leadership and Legacy for a New Generation, on Friday, October 10, at 8:00 p.m. at GPB's Atlanta studios (260 14^th Street, NW).

Discussion panelists Harold Holzer, one of the country's leading authorities on Abraham Lincoln and the political culture of the Civil War era, and David Blight, author of A Slave No More: Two Men Who Escaped to Freedom, Including Narratives of Emancipation (Harcourt, 2007), the program is endorsed by the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission and will explore the life, times and leadership of the man who guided America through one of the most tumultuous periods of its history. 

Georgia Historical Society Senior Historian Dr. Stan Deaton will moderate the program that offers a rare opportunity for students, scholars and those with a special interest in Civil War-era history to hear the insights of two renowned Lincoln scholars.  Admission is free and open to the public.

Harold Holzer has authored, co-authored and edited 30 books on Lincoln and the Civil War.  His book, Lincoln At Cooper Union: The Speech that Made Abraham Lincoln President (2004), won a 2005 Lincoln Prize, the most prestigious award in the field.  He has also written more than 400 articles for both popular magazines and scholarly journals, and is a frequent guest on television.  He has appeared on numerous C-SPAN presentations, including Washington Journal and with Sam Waterston and Richard Dreyfuss in Lincoln Seen and Heard; A&E's Biography; History Channel specials Assassins: John Wilkes Booth and Investigating History: Lincoln - Man vs. Myth, and on The Today Show, The Charlie Rose Show, CNBC, Fox News, The News Hour with Jim Lehreer, and CBS Sunday Morning.

Holzer lectures across the country.  In 2004, he delivered the prestigious Fortenbaugh Lecture at Gettysburg College and the second annual NEH Heroes of History lecture at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C.  In 2005, he was the featured speaker at ceremonies marking the anniversary of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address at the Soldier's Cemetery in Gettysburg. He serves as co-chair of the United States Lincoln Bicentennial Commission.

David Blight is the Class of 1954 Professor of American History at Yale University and director of the Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition at Yale.  His book Race and Reunion: The Civil War in American Memory (Harvard University Press, 2001) received eight book awards, including the Bancroft Prize, the Lincoln Prize, and the Frederick Douglass Prize.  His other published works include a book of essays, Beyond the Battlefield: Race, Memory, and the Civil War (University of Massachusetts Press, 2002) and Frederick Douglass's Civil War: Keeping Faith in Jubilee (LSU Press, 1989).

Blight is also a frequent book reviewer for the Washington Post Book World, the Chicago Tribune, the Los Angeles Times, the Boston Globe, and other newspapers; has written many articles on abolitionism, American historical memory, and African American intellectual and cultural history; and been a consultant to documentary films that include PBS's Africans in America (1998) and The Reconstruction Era (2004).

Those wishing to attend the event are asked to call 877.424.4789 for reservations.  For more information visit http://www.georgiahistory.com/.

Note to journalists: Interviews with speakers or Georgia Historical Society/Georgia Humanities Council representatives in advance of the program can be arranged.  See contact information above to inquire or schedule an interview.

With Support From

John and Mary Franklin Foundation

 Endorsed by the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission

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