Lincoln: The Constitution and the Civil War

The American Library Association (ALA) Public Programs Office is pleased to collaborate with the National Constitution Center (NCC) in Philadelphia on a new traveling exhibit, “Lincoln: The Constitution and the Civil War.” The exhibition will travel to public, research, and special libraries; historical societies; museums; civic, community, and heritage organizations; and institutions of higher learning from 2009 through 2015. The traveling exhibition and tour are funded by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to the National Constitution Center.

Using the Constitution as the cohesive thread, “Lincoln: The Constitution and the Civil War” offers a fresh and innovative perspective on Lincoln that focuses on his struggle to meet the political and constitutional challenges of the Civil War. Organized thematically, the exhibition explores how Lincoln used the Constitution to confront three intertwined crises of the war—the secession of Southern states, slavery, and wartime civil liberties. Visitors will leave the exhibition with a more complete understanding of Abraham Lincoln as president and the Civil War as the nation’s gravest constitutional crisis.

The National Constitution Center is one of the nation’s most exciting new museums and a leading provider of constitutionally themed education programs. Created through the Constitution Heritage Act of 1988, the NCC addresses the need to better educate Americans about their Constitution and citizenship rights and responsibilities. Its mission is to increase public understanding of, and appreciation for, the Constitution, its history, and it contemporary relevance through an interactive museum facility and national outreach programs.

This page brought to you by the American Library Association’s Public Programs Office.

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