Hear Lincoln scholars in Central Illinois

Lincoln Buff 2 is excited that today is the long-awaited lecture by Lincoln scholar James Oakes at the McLean County Museum of History in Bloomington (Ill.) Oakes was first scheduled to come a few months ago, on what turned out to be a horrific airline backup day. He couldn't make it out of New York to get here.

Oakes's talk, "Measure Him by the Sentiment of His Country: Fredrick Douglas, Abraham Lincoln, and the Triumph of Anti-Slavery Politics," will be this evening, Thursday, April 2, 2009, from 7-8 p.m. I can't wait to meet him or to read his book, "The Radical and the Republican: Fredrick Douglas, Abraham Lincoln and the Triumph of Anti-Slavery Politics", which was awarded a Lincoln Prize in 2008.

Besides, my Lincoln friend, Lincoln Bicentennial co-chair Harold Holzer told me last year, "You'll like Oakes. He's fun." Holzers's stamp of approval is all any Lincoln scholar needs in my book. The event is free and open to the public.

On Monday, April 13, 2009, from 7-8 p.m., a British Lincoln scholar I met and got to visit with will be at the museum. Richard Carwardine, Rhodes Professor of American History at Oxford University. Dr. Carwardine will be presenting a lecture entitled "Abraham Lincoln, God and the American Civil War" in the historic gov Fifer Courtroom of the Museum. Carwardine is a delightful speaker who spent as much time asking me about my Lincoln interests as I did trying to learn more about him. I'll be sharing more about him in a future blog post, once I complete some coursework I'm taking for my job.

Hope to see some fellow Lincoln buffs here in McLean County for the Lincoln events. This county, where Lincoln spent so much time, continues to spark interest and educate about the 16th president's time and this area's important role in his life and legacy.

Both events are sponsored by the McLean County Lincoln Bicentennial Commission.