Williams Lecture commemorates 160th anniversary of Lincoln, Grant meeting
Contact: Pattye Archer
STARKVILLE, Miss.鈥擳he 2024 Frank and Virginia Williams Lecture on Abraham Lincoln and Civil War Studies will commemorate the 160th anniversary of the pivotal first meeting between U.S. President Abraham Lincoln and Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant.
Scheduled for 6 p.m. on Nov. 7, the event will explore how their collaboration played a crucial role in securing the Union鈥檚 victory and ending slavery during the American Civil War. Hosted in the John Grisham Room on the third floor of Mitchell Memorial Library, the event is free and open to the public with a reception following. 91传媒 parking gates open at 5 p.m.
Susannah J. Ural, the Frank and Virginia Williams Endowed Chair, said this year鈥檚 format will shift from a traditional lecture to a conversation between scholars who will cover a range of topics related to the theme 鈥淟incoln and Grant in 1864: The Partnership that Saved the Union and Destroyed Slavery.鈥
The featured guests are two of the nation鈥檚 leading scholars of the U.S. Civil War era. University of California, Los Angeles, Professor Emeritus Joan Waugh is a critically acclaimed historian of Grant and Civil War memory. Leading Civil War military historian Joseph T. Glatthaar is an award-winning author and the Stephenson Distinguished Professor and adjunct professor of the Curriculum in Peace, War and Defense at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
鈥淚鈥檓 looking forward to this new format for the lecture. It allows us to explore a variety of questions alongside two of the nation鈥檚 top Civil War historians about the remarkable partnership between Lincoln and Grant that changed the course of history,鈥 Ural said.
The event also will feature a book signing highlighting works by Glatthaar, including 鈥淕eneral Lee鈥檚 Army: From Victory to Collapse鈥 (Free Press, 2008) and 鈥淔orged in Battle: The Civil War Alliance of Black Soldiers and White Officers鈥 (LSU Press, 2000), and Waugh鈥檚 鈥淯. S. Grant: American Hero, American Myth鈥 (The University of North Carolina Press, 2009) and 鈥淭he American War: A History of the Civil War Era (Flip Learning, 2016).鈥
鈥淭he Williams Lecture greatly benefits Mississippi State and the surrounding communities, allowing us to use our strengths in the U.S. Civil War and Reconstruction eras鈥攐ur faculty and graduate students specializing in this period, the world-renowned Williams Collection of Lincolniana, and the incredible Grant Presidential Library鈥攖o share cutting-edge scholarship with our audience,鈥 Ural said.
For more information about the event, email Ural at susannah.ural@history.msstate.edu.
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