UH-Hilo Hosting Symposium on Lincoln Saturday

The University of Hawaii at Hilo is hosting an event Saturday commemorating the 150th anniversary of President Abraham Lincoln’s issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation.

The James Oliver Horton Symposium of Abraham Lincoln is scheduled from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. in UCB Room 100.

A second day of the symposium will be held at the University of Hawaii at Manoa on Sunday.

The symposium, which features a trio of renowned and respected guest speakers, is named after James Oliver Horton, the Benjamin Banneker Professor of American Studies and History at George Washington University. He is also historian emeritus of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History.

Paul Finkelman. Courtesy photo.

The speakers include:

• Paul Finkelman, who will present “How a Railroad Lawyer Became The Great Emancipator.” The President William McKinley Distinguished Professor of Law and Public Policy at Albany Law School, Finkelman has lectured throughout the US, Europe, Asia and Latin America and has authored more than 30 books, along with various legal opinions which have been cited by the US Supreme Court.
  

  Vernon Burton. Courtesy photo.

• Orville Vernon Burton, who will speak on “Lincoln, Emancipation, and Education.” A distinguished professor of humanities, history and computer science at Clemson University, and the director of the Clemson Cyber Institute, Burton is a prolific and acclaimed author and historian. His 2007 work “The Age of Lincoln” won numerous awards and was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.

Ed Ayers. Courtesy photo.

• Edward L. Ayers, who will present “Where Did Freedom Come From?” President of the University of Richmond, Ayers was awarded the National Professor of the Year from the Carnegie Foundation.His numerous awards include the Bancroft Prize for Distinguished Writing in American History and the Beveridge Prize for the Best Book in English on the history of the Americas since 1492 for his 2004 book “In the Presence of Mine Enemies, Civil War in the Heart of America.” Ayers is also a co-host of “Back Story with the American History Guys,” a nationally syndicated radio show that ties history to the present day.

UH-Hilo Chancellor Donald O. Straney will deliver the welcoming to open the program, which will also include remarks from Assistant Professor of History Jeffrey Allen Smith.

The program will be followed by a light reception from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. in UCB 127 where members of the audience will have an opportunity to meet and talk with the guest speakers.

Tickets for these limited-seating events, including the reception, are $8 and available online at http://lincoln.hawaii-conference.com/ or by calling the UH-Hilo Conference Center at 974-7555.

The symposium is largely underwritten by grants from the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Foundation, Hawaii Council for the Humanities, and the Dorrance Scholarship Programs’ Charitable Fund.

Additional funding and support for the symposium comes from UH-Hilo, the UH-Hilo Student Activities Council and UH-Manoa College of Education.