Forever Free: Abraham Lincoln's
Journey to Emancipation

Calendar of Events

Forever Free: Abraham Lincoln's Journey to Emancipation will be exhibited in the Library Auditorium from November 15, 2009, through January 6, 2010. Below are some special events in conjunction with the traveling exhibit.

Programs

• African American Genealogy: Challenges and Rewards
  October 3, 2009, 2:30 p.m.
  A lecture presented by Dorothy S. Redford, genealogist and author of Somerset Homecoming: Recovering a Lost Heritage and Generations of Somerset Place: From Slavery to Freedom. This program is co-sponsored by the Climbers Club and the New Bern Alumnae Chapter Delta Sigma Theta.
  
• Researching your Civil War Ancestor
  Tuesday, October 20 at 7 p.m.
  Repeat, Thursday, October 22 at 3 p.m.
  A lecture presented by Victor T. Jones, Jr., Special Collections Librarian, that will discuss the records available for researching your Civil War ancestor.
  
• Robert E. Lee, the Army of Northern Virginia and Confederate Defeat
  Sunday, October 25 at 3 p.m.
  A lecture presented by Joseph T. Glatthaar, Stephenson Distinguished Professor of History at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is author of numerous books and articles, including: The March to the Sea and Beyond: Sherman’s Troops in the Savannah and Carolinas Campaigns (New York University Press, 1985), Forged in Battle: The Civil War Alliance of Black Soldiers and Their White Officers (The Free Press, 1989), Partners in Command: Relationships Between Leaders in the Civil War (The Free Press, 1994), Forgotten Allies: The Oneida Indians in the American Revolution (Hill & Wang, 2007) with James Kirby Martin, General Lee’s Army: From Victory To Defeat (The Free Press, 2008), and a forthcoming book Soldiering in the Army of Northern Virginia: A Quantitative Study.  He is currently Vice President of the Society for Military History.
  
• Lincoln's Approach to Immortality: The Final Years of Abraham Lincoln
  Sunday, November 15 at 3 p.m.
  A lecture presented by David Long, Associate Professor of History at East Carolina University. Long practiced law for twelve years before returning to college to obtain his Master's and Ph.D. in History from Florida State University. His first book, The Jewel of Liberty: Abraham Lincoln's Re-election and the End of Slavery, was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize, the Bancroft Prize, the Beveridge Award, the Parkman Award and the Lincoln Prize. He has also written articles for Civil War History Illustrated, the Journal of Southern History, and other journals.
  
• Battlefield Tours and Encampment
  Saturday, November 21, 12-4
  Visit the New Bern Battlefield (near Taberna) for free tours and experience life in a Civil War encampment. Co-sponsored by the New Bern Historical Society.
  
• Lighting the Path to Freedom
  Sunday, November 22 at 3 p.m.
  Meet President and Mrs. Lincoln, Frederick Douglass and Aunt Rachael, a freed slave. These four determined individuals, despite divergent backgrounds and opinions on slavery, became an unstoppable force for freedom.  Join us as they share their thoughts and ideas that forever changed this country.  (Character interpretations by Paul Switzer, Alma Gibbons, Marshall Williams and Pamela Ward)
  
• James City: A Black Community in North Carolina, 1863-1900
  Saturday, December 5 at 2 p.m.
  A lecture on the history of James City presented by author and historian Joe Mobley. Mobley wrote James City: A Black Community in North Carolina, 1863-1900, and is currently a faculty member in the Department of History at North Carolina State University.
  
• Red Badge of Courage Movie Viewing for Teens
  Monday, December 14 at 6:30 p.m.
  
• William Henry Singleton's Recollections of My Slavery Days: A North Carolina Slave's View of the Civil War and its Legacies
  Tuesday, January 5, 2010 at 7 p.m.
  In 1922, the former slave and Union Army veteran, William Henry Singleton, published an autobiography that provides a fascinating glimpse of life in a North Carolina coastal city and rural neighborhood. Katherine Mellen Charron, Assistant Professor of History at North Carolina, explores what Singleton's narrative reveals about a place and the people in it, about slavery and freedom, and the bridge between the two. This program is made possible by a grant from the North Carolina Humanities Council, statewide nonprofit and affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Civil War Sunday Movie Series

• Ride With the Devil, September 20
  Explores the lives of four Southern guerilla fighters on the Missouri-Kansas border. 138 minutes.
• Shenandoah, October 4
  James Stewart stars in this classic about a Virginia farmer who tries to remain neutral and disregard the entire conflict until his youngest son is kidnapped by Yankees. 105 minutes.
• The Great Locomotive Chase, October 18
  This film is based on a true event when the Andrews Raiders, a team of Union spies, stole a train in an attempt to cripple the Southern railroad network. 88 minutes.
• Glory, November 1
  This modern classic tells the story of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, an all-black unit comprising Northern freemen and escaped slaves. It stars Matthew Broderick, Denzel Washington and Morgan Freeman. 122 minutes.
• All movies start at 2:30 p.m. in the Library Auditorium

Children's Story Hours

• Welcome to Addy's World...Growing Up During America's Civil War
  November 19, 4 p.m.
• Soldiers, Spies and Angels
  December 3, 4 p.m.
• Follow the Drinking Gourd
  December 10, 4 p.m.

Young Adult Programming

• Wednesday Book Club Discussion of The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane
  Wednesdays in November, 4:00-5:30 p.m.
• Debate on the Causes of the Civil War
  November 19, 5:00-7:00 p.m., New Bern Civic Theatre
• Movie Night: The Red Badge of Courage
  December 14, 7 p.m.

"THE UNION IS DISSOLVED!" Charleston Mercury Extra and Ordinance of Secession. December 20, 1860.
(Courtesy of Huntington Library, San Marino, California)