ALBC Town Hall – Gettysburg, PA
Lincoln’s Legacy:  Race, Freedom and Equality of Opportunity
November 20, 2008

Photo courtesy of Bill Dowling.

Gettysburg College
College Union Ballroom
300 North Washington St
Gettysburg, PA 17325

“The Bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln’s birth represents a great opportunity to bring together disparate parts of the nation in a dialogue aimed at helping to breach our differences and promote our mutual understanding.”  — Eileen Mackevich, ALBC Executive Director.

Gettysburg College was the sight of a lively discussion as the ALBC kick-started its national Town Hall Series.  Inspired by Lincoln’s final effort to build a multi-racial, equal opportunity society, a panel of prominent civic leaders and historians engaged with a culturally diverse audience to talk about racial divisions, past and present, impediments to economic opportunity, and how Lincoln’s legacy has shed light on the ongoing effort to unify the nation’s people.

Panelists included:

ALBC Commissioner and U.S. Congressman Jesse L. Jackson, Jr. (D IL)
Jack Kemp, former secretary of Housing and Urban Development
Susan Eisenhower, distinguished fellow at the Eisenhower Institute
Allen Guelzo, director of Civil War Era Studies at Gettysburg College
Norman Bristol Colón, executive director of the governor’s Advisory Commission on Latino Affairs

The discussion was moderated by Charles R. Branham, Senior Historian at DuSable Museum of African American History in Chicago and Professor of History at the University of Chicago Lab School.

Taped by C-SPAN, Gettysburg was the first of 11 discussions scheduled by the Bicentennial Commission and funded in part by the Fetzer Institute of Kalamazoo, MI.

The national Town Hall series is part of an ongoing commitment to educate and engage the public about the evolving views of Lincoln while provoking discussion and exploring solutions that address critical issues of race, freedom, and equality of opportunity.