Forever Free: Abraham Lincoln's
Journey to Emancipation

Abraham Lincoln is known as "The Great Emancipator" for freeing the slaves in 1863. Lincoln hated slavery, but he began his journey to Emancipation as a cautious moderate who was willing to allow slavery to continue if it would help preserve the Union. When this approach failed, he determined that freeing the slaves immediately was a necessity. The Emancipation Proclamation was the result.

The New Bern-Craven County Public Library invites you to explore Lincoln's change of mind at the exhibition--"Forever Free: Abraham Lincoln's Journey to Emancipation." This exhibit will be on display at the library from November 15, 2009, through January 6, 2010.

"Forever Free" is organized by the Huntington Library and The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History in cooperation with the American Library Association Public Programs Office. It is made possible through major grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission.