FALL 2015
LINCOLNIANA
BY
FRANK J. WILLIAMS
The Spoken Word and Group Activities
Richard Sloan discussed “The Funeral of President Lincoln” at the Civil War Round Table of New York meeting on April 8. He also gave a walking tour along the route of Lincoln’s actual New York funeral procession on the anniversary date, April 25.
Shannon Cable spoke about “Civil War Mourning and the Death of Abraham Lincoln” at the Allen County Public Library, Fort Wayne, as part of the Lincoln at the Library series.
Anthony S. Pitch spoke to the general public in Washington on May 6 about his book “They Have Killed Papa Dead!” – The Road to Ford’s Theatre, Abraham Lincoln’s Murder, and the Rage for Vengeance.”
Frank J. Williams presented “Judging Lincoln as a Judge” to the Kentucky Civil War Round Table on May 18, 2015. On May 27, Williams presented the “Military Trial of the Lincoln Conspirators: Justice or Justice Denied” to the Massachusetts Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission.
Sara Vaughn Gabbard interviewed Lincoln interpreter Fritz Klein for the Summer Lincoln Lore. She also interviewed Pulitzer Prize-winning author Eric Foner and Daniel Weinberg, proprietor of Chicago’s Abraham Lincoln Book Shop, Chicago, in the same issue.
On June 11, 18, and 25, Steven Wilson, Curator, and Michelle Ganz, Archivist, presented a series of classes on the Civil War in East Tennessee, focusing on how they create exhibits for the Abraham Lincoln Library and Museum in Harrogate, TN. The presentation took place at the Oak Ridge Institute for Continued Learning. Roane State Community College of Oak Ridge, TN, hosted the classes.
Frank J. Williams presented “Abraham Lincoln on Civil Liberties in Wartime” at the Courtland County Historical Society in Peekskill, NY, on June 12.
University of Massachusetts history professor emeritus Martin H. Quitt, author of Stephen A. Douglas and Antebellum Democracy, was the keynote speaker at the Stephen A. Douglas Association annual meeting on June 13.
On June 13, Bill Hampes presented “The Humor of Abraham Lincoln” at the Dairy Building, Bishop Hill, IL.
On June 19, Edna Greene Medford presented “When Freedom Came: Emancipation and the Question of Timing” at the Allen County Public Library, Fort Wayne, IN.
Frank J. Williams presented “Abraham Lincoln as the Evolving Commander-in-Chief” at the Worcester Historical Society on June 24. The presentation was also heard by the Central Massachusetts Civil War Round Table.
Harold Holzer spoke on “Lincoln and the Press: Murder, Mayhem, Manhunts, and Martyrdom,” at the Minnesota Historical Society in St. Paul on August 19.
Craig L. Symonds presented the 2015 Richard F. Sokup Lecture on August 29 for the Lincoln-Douglas Society at Freeport Public Library.
“Winning the War: Civil War Baseball” by Frank J. Williams and “Origins of Baseball” by John Marszalek were presented at the George W. Bush Presidential Center on September 1.
Harold Holzer presented the Annual R. Gerald McMurtry Lecture on September 10 at the Allen County Public Library, Fort Wayne, IN.
Richard Wightman Fox discussed “What We’ve Forgotten About Lincoln’s Body and What We’ve Never Known” at the September 10 meeting of the Puget Sound Civil War Round Table, Seattle, WA.
On September 11, Frank J. Williams presented “Keeping the Promise: Abraham Lincoln and His Fight for the 13th Amendment” at Culver-Stockton College, Canton, MO. He also presented “Judging Lincoln as a Judge” at John Wood Community College, Quincy, IL on the same day.
The 77th season of The Lincoln Group of Boston began on September 12 with John Stauffer discussing his The Battle Hymn of the Republic: A Biography of the Song that Marches On.
Frank J. Williams discussed the sesquicentennial of the Civil War at the annual meeting of the Varnum Continentals in East Greenwich, RI on September 14.
The Huntington Library hosted Ending the Mighty Conflict: The Civil War in 1864-1865 & Beyond on September 18 & 19 with the following sessions: Session 1: “Lincoln, Davis, and the War’s Reverberations,” moderated by Gary W. Gallagher with presentations by James M. McPherson (“Lincoln, Davis, and the End of War”), Richard Carwardine (“Appomattox and Lincoln’s Assassination: Popular Readings at Home and Abroad”), and Drew Gilpin Faust (“The Civil War and the Long 210th Century”). Session 2: “Military and Political Episodes,” moderated by Joan Waugh with presentations by J. Matthew Gallman (“Revisiting the Election of 1864”), John F. Marszalek (“Sherman’s March and Destructive War”), and Harold Holzer (“Virginia Bound: Lincoln at City Point, Petersburg, and Richmond”). Session 3: “Surrenders and Demobilization,” moderated by Gary W. Gallagher with presentations by Joan Waugh (“U.S. Grant and the Surrender at Appomattox”), Stephen Cushman (“Surrender According to Johnston and Sherman”), and Caroline Janney (“Demobilizing the Army of Northern Virginia”). Session 4: “Spectacle, Imagery, and Personal Transformations,” moderated by Joan Waugh with presentations by Gary W. Gallagher (“Dutiful American Citizens, Coming Home: the Grand Review”), and David W. Blight (“Othello’s Occupation Was Gone: The Endings of Frederick Douglass’s Civil War”).
On September 19, Guy C. Fraker presented “All of Illinois is the ‘Land of Lincoln’” to the Barrington Area Library, Barrington, IL.
Ronald C. White, Jr. discussed “Lincoln’s Greatest Speech: The Second Inaugural” on September 22 at the Abraham Lincoln Library and Museum, Lincoln Memorial University, Harrogate, TN.
The Ulysses S. Grant Association, Ulysses S. Grant Presidential Library, and the University Libraries of Mississippi State University co-hosted The Fifteenth Amendment: From U.S. Grant to Lyndon B. Johnson’s Voting Rights Act Symposium on September 23-25. Presentations included: “The Early Years of Reconstruction” by Douglas Egerton and “The Voting Right Act and its Impact on African American Political Participation” by Michael K. Fauntroy. Panels included: “The 15th Amendment and Voting Rights Act: Impact on the Judiciary” with former Governor William Winter moderating and panelists, Chief Justice (ret.) Frank J. Williams, Mississippi Chief Justice William Waller, and Mississippi Justice (ret.) Fred Banks. Dorothy O. Pratt, Stacy D. Allen, and Stephen A. West were the panelists for “The 15th Amendment’s Immediate Impact in the 19th Century” and Judge Gordon A. Martin, Gerald Stern, and John T. Elliff were the panelists for “Voting Rights Before Lyndon B. Johnson.” Richard L. Engstrom discussed “Preclearance Politics in Mississippi” and Barbara H. Combs spoke about “The Promise and Fulfillment of the Franchise Post Shelby County, AL vs. Holder.” The panel, “Voting Rights in the Segregated South” included Zachary L. Wakefield, John L. Bullion, and Ryan P. Semmes. The National Park Service representatives contributed to the panel, “The Relevance of the 15th Amendment and Voting Rights Act to National Historic Sites” with Tim Good, Dave Schafer, Thersea Hall, and Enimini Ekong. Frank J. Williams moderated the wrap-up discussion.
The Lincoln Heritage Museum of Lincoln College sponsored its grand soiree on September 26.
Harold Holzer delivered the P. Newman Lecture on “Lincoln and The Press” at the Historical Society of Frederick County (MD) on October 1. He delivered “Lincoln and the Press: Master or Monster” as the Myles Martel Lecturer at Temple University in Philadelphia on October 6.
The 2015 Annual Lincoln Colloquium hosted by Lincoln College and the Lincoln Heritage Museum on October 2 and 3, The Better Angels of our Nature: The Influential Legacy and Character of Abraham Lincoln, featured Douglas Wilson (“Abraham Lincoln: Character or Calculation?”); William D. Pederson (“Lincoln Without Borders: Lincoln’s International Legacy”); and John M. Barr (“Loathing Lincoln’s Legacy”). James Cornelius, Guy Fraker, Sarah Watson, Sara Vaughn Gabbard, and Anne Moseley discussed the tangible legacy in the lands of Lincoln.
Clair Ferris discussed Abraham Lincoln’s funeral on October 8 at the Puget Sound Civil War Round Table, Seattle, WA
Allerton Park & Retreat Center in Monticello, IL, hosted Experience Lincoln on October 11-13. The program highlights Lincoln and Illinois and was organized by Guy C. Fraker.
The Center for State Policy and Leadership, University of Illinois – Springfield hosted Lincoln and Voting Rights on October 15 with Michael Vorenberg “Voting Rights and the Meaning of Freedom: The View from the Civil War Era,” and Ronald Keith Gaddie, “Citizenship and Voting Rights in the Modern Era.” Michael Burlingame presented opening remarks on, “Lincoln and Black Voting Rights.”
Jason Silverman, author of Lincoln and the Immigrant, discussed his book with Ben Johnson, Executive Director of the American Immigration Council, on October 15 at President Lincoln’s Cottage, Washington.
Frank J. Williams delivered “Military Trials of Terrorists: From the Lincoln Conspirators to the Guantanamo Detainees” at the Maryland Judicial Institute, Baltimore, on October 16.
John F. Marszalek, Frank J. Williams, and George Buss as Abraham Lincoln, were historian-guides for a Civil War cruise abroad the American Queen from October 18-25, co-sponsored by The Lincoln Forum. Charlene Corris of Custom Travel Concepts (histors@aol.com) made the arrangements. Frank Williams presented “Lincoln’s Second Inaugural,” “When the War Ended,” “The Lincoln Assassination in Law and Lore,” and “Keeping the Promise: The Thirteenth Amendment.” John Marszalek talked about “Lincoln and the Military,” “Grant and Sherman at the Close of the Civil War,” and “The Civil War Ends and Reconstruction Begins in Mississippi.” Lincoln interpreter, George Buss, participated in a press conference as President Lincoln with John Marszalek and Frank Williams. He also portrayed President Lincoln at two evening performances.
William D. Pederson and Frank J. Williams were the directors of the triennial presidential conference, The Roosevelt Century: Theodore and Franklin Roosevelt at Louisiana State University Shreveport on October 22-24. Among the 25presentations were: “Our ‘Nation First’ Presidents: Lincoln, T.R. and FDR” by William D. Richardson and John A. Soubik; “Great White Father Abraham: A Look at Lincoln’s Indian Policy” by Thomas A. Britten; and “Who Would Have Imagined? Lincoln and George Washington Carver at Pigeon Creek” by Christina Vella.
Catherine Clinton discussed “Mary Lincoln’s Assassination” at Southern Methodist University on October 27.
Julie Reeves presented “Rock Island Bridge: The Effie Afton Case” for The Lincoln Club of Topeka on November 3.
Mark E. Steiner presented “My Fellow Citizens” for the Abraham Lincoln Institute for the Study of Leadership and Public Policy and the Duncan School of Law, and as the R. Gerald McMurtry Lecture at Lincoln Memorial University, Knoxville, TN, on November 5.
The 20th Annual Lincoln Forum Symposium – 1865: Triumph and Tragedy – was held at the Wyndham Hotel, Gettysburg, November 16-18. Presenters were: William C. (“Jack”) Davis on “Grant and Lee: The Generals Nobody Knows;” Richard Wightman Fox on “Lincoln Visits Richmond;” Elizabeth R. Varon on “Legacies of Appomattox: Lee’s Surrender in History and Memory;” Edna Greene Medford on “Emancipation After Appomattox;” Michael Vorenberg on “The Last Surrender: Looking for the End of the Civil War;” James L. Swanson on “The Lincoln and Kennedy Assassinations Compared;” James B. Conroy on “Lincoln and the Search for Peace at Hampton Roads;” and Terry Alford on “John Wilkes Booth: A Biographer’s 25 Years on the Trail.” Harold Holzer moderated the panel, “‘A King’s Cure’ in film and Fact: Lincoln, Spielberg, and the 13th Amendment” with panelists Edna Greene Medford, Richard Wightman Fox, and Michael Vorenberg. Frank J. Williams moderated the panel, “Why was Lincoln Murdered?” with Terry Alford, John McKee Barr, Martha Hodes, and Joan Chaconas. The conference closed Wednesday evening, November 18, with memories of the Forum’s 20 years by Harold Holzer and Frank J. Williams. The United States Army Chorus serenaded the Forum with Music of War, Peace, and Mourning.
Garrison Keillor presented the keynote address at the 2015 Dedication Day Ceremony in Gettysburg on November 19.
Joseph T. Glatthaar presented the 54th Annual Robert Fortenbaugh Memorial Lecture at Gettysburg College on November 19 with “A Tale of Two Armies: The Confederate Army of Northern Virginia and the Union Army of the Potomac.”
Harold Holzer will moderate “Reconstruction at 150,” with David W. Blight, Eric Foner, and Edna Greene Medford, for the New-York Historical Society on February 13, 2016.
Judge Andrew Napolitano will present “Lincoln and the Constitution” to the Civil War Round Table of New York on April 13, 2016.
The 2016 Civil War Institute at Gettysburg College will be held on June 17-18 with Gregory Downs and Caroline Janney.
International Legacy
William D. Pederson (Louisiana State University Shreveport) presented “Lincoln Without Borders: International Legacy” at the 2015 Annual Lincoln Colloquium at the Lincoln Heritage Museum, Lincoln College, on October 2. It was sponsored by the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Foundation, the Abraham Lincoln Association, the Illinois State Historical Society, and Destination Logan County.
William C. (“Jack”) Davis delivered the 32nd annual Frank and Virginia Williams Abraham Lincoln Lecture at LSU Shreveport on “The Age of Lincoln – A Global Legacy” during the 11th triennial presidential conference held by the International Lincoln Center, the oldest in the South. The series uses Lincoln’s leadership as the standard for the series. Though the conference focused on “The Roosevelt Century: TR and FDR,” several presentations dealt with Lincoln’s international legacy: Ronald J. Byrd (International Lincoln Center), on “Mexico’s Iconic Muralists Honored Lincoln;” Rodney A. Grunes (Centenary College) on “Lincoln’s Impact on David Ben-Gurion;” Shahab Ghobadi (International Lincoln Center) on “Iran’s Best Kept Secret: World’s Only Epic Lincoln Poem;” and Max J. Skidmore (University of Missouri, Kansas City) on “Lincoln’s Lasting International Legacy.”
Michael J. Douma, “The Lincoln Administration’s Negotiations to Colonize African Americans in Dutch Suriname” appeared in the June 2015 issue of Civil War History, as well as D.H. Dilbeck’s, “The Genesis of this Little Tablet with My Name. Francis Lieber and the Wartime Origns of General Orders No. 100.”
His Holiness Pope Francis became the first pontiff to deliver an address to a joint session of Congress on September 24. He mentioned Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Jr., Dorothy Day and Thomas Merton. See jon@vox.com. Two days later as he stepped forward to speak at Independence Hall in Philadelphia as the “Fanfare for the Common Man” was played. The Pontiff spoke from a lectern that he – and the American public – were told that Lincoln used at Gettysburg. In fact, there is no known proof that Lincoln used this or any other lectern on November 19, 1862.
“Lincoln in Cuba” appeared in the Spring 2015 issue of the Lincoln Forum Bulletin. Three photos were furnished by Thayer Tolles (Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art).
Italian artist Alessandro Rabatti superimposed an image of Mao Zedong from the Chinese Yuan over the familiar portrait of Lincoln on the U.S. Five Dollar bill. The image appeared in Time on May 25.
The April 28 issue of the Washington Post featured a photo by Pablo Martinez Monsivas (Associated Press) of President Obama and Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at the Lincoln Memorial.
Arts & Entertainment
Mark Flotow wrote the poem “Lincoln, The People’s Choice” (Springfieldpoet@att.net).
Sculptor David Seagraves of Elizabeth, IL, designed and sculpted the bronze Lincoln Rallies the People for the new Lincoln statue now on the grounds of the Logan County Courthouse in Illinois. Guy Fraker of Bloomington addressed the crowd at its dedication on May 16.
Photographer Bill Cunningham produced commentary in his photographs for the Independence Day Celebration in New York City (The New York Times, July 12, 2015). A highlight for the tourists who ventured south of Times Square were 18 life-sized sculptures by Seward Johnson, icons of American and Parisian street life from 1900 to the present. The most popular sculptures included Marilyn Monroe and Abraham Lincoln.
The August American Historian included a discussion of the making of “Battle Lines: A Graphic History of the Civil War” with artwork by Jonathan Fetter-Vorm and Ari Kelman.
The little known 1865 painting of the Abraham Lincoln assassination by eyewitness, Carl Bersch, who painted “Lincoln Borne by Loving Hands” as he was being carried from Ford’s Theatre to the Peterson House is being restored at the studio of David Olin in Great Falls, VA.
The bust of Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney, author of the majority decision in the 1857 Dred Scott decision, may be removed from his hometown of Frederick, MD. The Board of Aldermen indicated that the likeness of the man who held black citizenship unconstitutional should no longer hold a place of honor in front of Frederick’s City Hall.
Michael E. Ruane wrote “Behind Tribute, an Artist’s Torment” about the Grant Memorial in Washington on the west side of the United States Capitol now being restored. The August 28 Washington Post article included that the sculptor Henry Merwin Shrady was worn out after completing the memorial’s construction and died a couple of weeks before its dedication on April 27, 1922 – the one hundredth anniversary of Grant’s birth.
Exhibits
Brooklyn’s historic Green-Wood Cemetery hosted the exhibit To Bid You All Good Bye: Civil War Stories. The exhibit ran through July 12.
Lincoln and the Jews opened on August 3 in the Treasure Gallery of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, Springfield, IL. The exhibit presents the story of many individual Jews at a time when there were only 150,000 Jews in the entire United States.
Curated by the Pensacola Museum of Art Collections Committee, four paintings by Wendy Allen were selected for the exhibit, Lincoln: Inspiration through the Ages. The exhibit is inspired by the 2014 acquisition of a bronze sculpture by sculptor Daniel Chester French. A wide variety of media and artistic styles from artists such as Salvador Dali, Nathan Sawaya, Norman Rockwell, and Bill Mauldin were also in the exhibit. Lincoln: Inspiration through the Ages ran from September 4 thru November 7, 2015.
Philip Kennicott, in the September 18 Washington Post, reviewed the Civil War photographs in Dark Fields of the Republic: Alexander Gardner Photographs, 1859-1872. Kennicott wrote that “Those with an interest in the Civil War, and Lincoln, will find the show thoroughly absorbing, but it is far more than a Civil War exhibition. Curator David Ward is sketching a larger picture of America in the late 19th century, a country transformed by war, disillusioned yet ambitious, moving seamlessly from internecine strife to genocidal violence against its native population.”
Navigating the West: George Caleb Bingham and the River was on view through September 20 at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC. The Amon Carter Museum of American Art in St. Louis published the catalog of the exhibit.
1865: Triumph and Tragedy focusing on the Civil War Sesquicentennial has opened at the Heritage Center of the Union League of Philadelphia.
The Lincoln Shrine in Redlands, CA, opened 1865: Triumph and Tragedy, its fifth and final installment commemorating the Civil War Sesquicentennial.
Alyssa Rosenberg wrote about the re-mastering, by Ken Burns himself, of his landmark American documentary, The Civil War, which was originally shown 25 years ago. Some 40 million people watched the nine-part PBS series when it first aired in 1990.
A new exhibit, dedicated to Abraham Lincoln, the Civil War, and Decatur, Illinois’s Grand Army of the Republic, has been installed in the Macon County History Museum, Decatur.
Awards and Prizes
Superior Court Judge Dennis J. Curran, a member of the Advisory Board of The Lincoln Forum received the Chief Justice Edward F. Hennessey Award from the Massachusetts Bar Association on May 7.
Sara Vaughn Gabbard was inducted into the Lincoln Academy of Illinois on May 9.
The Abraham Lincoln Association awarded Illinois Supreme Court Chief Justice Rita B. Garman its first Spirit of Lincoln Award. The award recognizes individuals who have displayed the spirit of Abraham Lincoln in their professional careers for the betterment of humanity. Illinois sculptor John McClarey crafted the award.
Martha Hodes was (long-listed) for the non-fiction National Book Award for Mourning Lincoln.
The Wendy Allen Award of The Lincoln Forum, presented to the institution having contributed much to the legacy of Abraham Lincoln, went on November 17 to Lincoln College, Lincoln, IL for its new Lincoln Heritage Museum.
The Richard Nelson Current Award of Achievement of The Lincoln Forum was presented to William C. (“Jack”) Davis and Edward Steers, Jr. on November 18. A special Richard Nelson Current Award of Achievement was presented to Vice Chair of The Lincoln Forum, Harold Holzer.
Auctions
The note Mrs. Lincoln signed certifying John Parker to White House duty, together with a bloodstained 4” by 7” swatch from Laura Keene’s dress (with her presentation statement and signature affixed) did not sell at the September 28 RR Auction, Boston, MA, as neither met the reserve prices.
Collections
Erin Hegarty wrote “A Trip Back in Time: Springfield to Mark 150 Years since Abraham Lincoln’s Funeral” for the March 29 Daily Herald.
Robert Weible, Aaron Noble, and Jennifer A. Lemak are editors and authors of An Irrepressible Conflict: The Empire State and the Civil War. It is the companion to the award-winning exhibition of the same name displayed at the New York State Museum from September 2012 to March 2014. Published by SUNY Press with a foreword by Harold Holzer.
Stephan & Jacob Loewentheil and Thomas L. Edsall & Stacey Lambrow have published their catalog 160, Magnificent Books & Photographs: 19th Century Rare Book & Photograph Shop. It includes the only known example of an Alexander Gardner photograph portrait of Abraham Lincoln owned by Lincoln’s secretary John Hay.
Dan Weinberg and the Abraham Lincoln Book Shop published catalog 176.
On May 8, The State Journal-Register reported that the re-created hearse for the Lincoln Funeral Re-enactment needed steel repairs to make it usable for the trip from downtown Springfield to Oak Ridge Cemetery.
The State Journal-Register, Springfield, IL, reported on July 13 that work on the Old State Capitol where Lincoln served and spoke as well as the Lincoln-Herndon law offices in Springfield are on hold because of the state’s budget impasse.
The Center for Civil War Photography has inaugurated a new magazine, Battlefield Photographer, The Journal of the Center for Civil War Photography with Bob Zeller as editor. Issue 2 – for August 2015 – featured “Rediscovering Mathew Brady’s New York Gallery” by Richard Sloan and Bob Zeller’s “General John Reynolds Discovered in 3-D.”
Paul A. Cunningham has prepared Lincoln’s Metallic Imagery: A Listing and Price Guide to Abraham Lincoln Exonumia (www.cunninghamexonumia.com).
The Illinois Times reported on September 4 that Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner’s administration was shutting down The Papers of Abraham Lincoln project and indicated that the executive inspector general’s office was contacted to conduct an investigation of the project. Robert Lenz, a member of the Advisory Board for The Papers of Abraham Lincoln, indicated that there was a lack of all the facts but that the “…Governor’s office has directed the HPA to severely restrict activities of The Papers of Abraham Lincoln.” The Illinois Historic Preservation Agency indicated on September 4 that an intergovernmental agreement between the agency and the University of Illinois Springfield that paid for 12 employees involved in the project had expired. Yet the agency said it has not shut down the program and that it recently “received a federal grant of $100,000 in outright funds and an additional $300,000 in matching funds, which can be matched by private donors.”
Jesse Fell’s papers from his time as a Union Army Paymaster during the Civil War were acquired by Illinois State University. A friend of Abraham Lincoln, he is credited with helping persuade him to run for president.
The July-September quarterly newsletter of The Papers of Abraham Lincoln, Lincoln Editor, indicated that the future of the project is uncertain with the layoff of four researchers and associates due to the lack of state budget and uncertainty over state funding for the project as well as the project becoming politicized. The project added the 100,000th document to its database with a letter from Charles King to Abraham Lincoln, dated December 23, 1861.
Books and Pamphlets
Lincoln and Liberty: Wisdom for the Ages, edited by Lucas E. Morel, with an Introduction by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, has been published by The University Press of Kentucky with contributions by: John Channing Briggs, Michael Burlingame, Joseph R. Fornieri, Allen C. Guelzo, Jason R. Jividen, Fred Kaplan, Steven Kautz, Benjamin A. Kleinerman, Thomas L. Krannawitter, Lucas E. Morel, Mackubin Thomas Owens, Ronald J. Pestritto, Matthew Pinsker, and Diana J. Schaub.
The Gettysburg Address: Perspectives on Lincoln’s Greatest Speech, edited by Sean Conant has been published by Oxford University Press. It included a Foreword by Harold Holzer.
Edna Greene Medford’s Lincoln and Emancipation has been published by Southern Illinois University Press as part of its concise Lincoln series.
The African-American Civil War Memorial and Museum, Washington, published a souvenir booklet, The Grand Review Parade, for distribution on May 17, 2015.
The University of Florida Press published The War Worth Fighting: Abraham Lincoln’s Presidency and Civil War America, edited by Stephen D. Engle. Essays included: “The Passage of Lincoln’s Republic: Providence in Progress” by Orville Vernon Burton; “The President as Pedagogue: Teaching Citizenship in Time of War” by J. Matthew Gallman; “Lincoln as Commander in Chief: Forays into Generalship” by Mark Grimsley; “The Political Culture of the North: Party Politics of Nation and State” by Jennifer L. Weber; “Legalities in Wartime: The Myth of the Writ of Habeas Corpus” by Mark E. Neely Jr.; “Emancipation in Washington, D.C.: Battleground for Freedom and Reconstruction” by Kate Masur; “Lincoln as Leader: The Visible Hand of the Presidency” by Richard J. Carwardine; “Lincoln as Chief Diplomat in War: Perception and Reality” by Howard Jones; and “Wartime Reconstruction: Constructing the Union’s New Cornerstone” by Brooks D. Simpson. Michael Burlingame wrote an epilogue.
The University Press of Kansas has published Lincoln and Shakespeare by Michael Anderegg.
Todd Nathan Thompson is the author of The National Joker: Abraham Lincoln and the Politics of Satire (Southern Illinois University Press).
Abraham Lincoln and the Structure of Reason by David Hirsch and Dan Van Haften, with a Foreword by Frank J. Williams, has been published by Savas Beatie.
Paul A. Cunningham (P.O. Box 1, Tecumseh, MI 49286) has published Lincoln’s Metallic Imagery: A Catalog and Price List of Lincoln Coins, Tokens, Medals, and Plaques. It is priced at $90.00, including postage.
Jason H. Silverman is the author of Lincoln and the Immigrant and Christian G. Samito has authored Lincoln and the Thirteenth Amendment – both in the concise Lincoln Library of Southern Illinois University Press.
Harvard University Press has published Allen C. Guelzo’s Redeeming the Great Emancipator.
Tom LeClair’s Lincoln’s Billy has been published by The Permanent Press.
Bryon C. Andreasen has written Lincoln’s Springfield for the Looking for Lincoln in Illinois series published by Southern Illinois University Press.
Harold Holzer and Norton Garfinkle have published A Just and Generous Nation: Abraham Lincoln and the Fight for American Opportunity (Basic Books).
Charles M. Hubbard has edited Lincoln, The Law, and Presidential Leadership for Southern Illinois University Press. Contributions include his introduction and “Abraham Lincoln: Lawyer, Leader, President” by Daniel W. Stowell; “Lincoln and Citizenship” by Mark E. Steiner; “Lincoln’s Divided House: The Constitution and the Union” by Charles M. Hubbard; “Abraham Lincoln and Civil Liberties in Wartime” by Frank J. Williams; “I Claim Not to Have Controlled Events”: Lincoln, Leadership, and the Emancipation Struggle” by Edna Greene Medford; “The Quality of Mercy: Abraham Lincoln and the Presidential Power to Pardon” by Ron Soodalter; “Lincoln and the Law of War” by Burrus M. Carnahan; “Lincoln and the Potter Congressional Committee concerning the Loyalty of Government Employees” by Natalie Sweet; and “Equality, Statesmanship, and the Lincoln Image in Progressive Presidential Rhetoric” by Jason R. Jividen.
Collateral Books
Edward H. Bonekemper III is the author of Lincoln and Grant: The Westerners Who Won the Civil War (Regnery History).
Reg Ankrom is the author of the first of a three-volume biography of Stephen A. Douglas. His first, Stephen A. Douglas: The Political Apprenticeship, 1833-1843 has been published by McFarland.
James B. Muehlberger is the author of The 116: The True Story of Abraham Lincoln’s Lost Guard about the 116 men and their leader, Jim Lane of Kansas. (Ankerwicke)
Civil War Sesquicentennial and Related Books
Men of War: The American Soldier in Combat at Bunker Hill, Gettysburg, and Heiwajima by Alexander Rose has been published by Random House.
Periodicals
Eric Martin, a Park Ranger of the National Park Service at Ford’s Theatre National Historic Site wrote “The Assassination of President Abraham Lincoln” for the Sentinel’s 150th anniversary issue.
The Summer Lincoln Herald included “Preserving Hidden Graves for Posterity” by Steven K. Rogstad and a reprint of “Mrs. Stowe, Kentucky, and Uncle Tom’s Cabin” by J. Winston Coleman, Jr. The Fall issue included, “The Beginning, Life, and Sad End of the Lincoln Funeral Car” by Matthew H. Bruce and “Lincoln and the California Connections” by Thomas Mackie.
Ted Widmer wrote “Blood and Suffering,” How the Brown University Community Responded to the Outbreak of the Civil War for the May/June 2015 Brown Alumni Magazine.
H. Dilbeck wrote, “‘The Genesis of this Little Tablet with my Name:’ Francis Leiber and the Wartime Origins of General Orders No. 100” for the June Journal of the Civil War Era.
Larry Keener-Farley wrote about the “Commemorations in Washington for Abraham Lincoln” for the July Civil War News.
Reg Ankrom wrote “Illinois Politics and Lincoln’s ‘Least Man’” for the Summer issue of For the People: A Newsletter of the Abraham Lincoln Association. In the same issue, John D. Bybee provided “Abraham Lincoln in Vermont, Illinois, October 26-27, 1858.” Jason Emerson provided “As Willie Lay Dying, Mary Lincoln gets Pilloried in a Poem.”
Paul Post wrote “Adirondack Town Mystery: Who Stole Marker for a Civil War Photographer?” for the July 6 New York Times. The author described Civil War photographer Mathew B. Brady but misstated his birthplace – it was Ireland not New York State. The article failed to mention Brady’s former assistant, Alexander Gardner, who eclipsed Brady in Civil War photography.
Richard Striner wrote “What Lincoln means to me – and not necessarily to others” in the Summer Lincoln Lore.
John Marszalek wrote “The Legacy of Abraham Lincoln” for the Summer Lincoln Lore.
The Summer Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association included Jeffrey J. Malanson’s “The Founding Fathers and the Election of 1864,” Cheryl A. Wells’s “Icy Blasts to Balmy Airs: British North America and Lincoln’s Assassination,” and a roundtable discussion of the film The Better Angels featuring William E. Bartelt, Jackie Hogan, Megan Kate Nelson, and John Stauffer.
Nina Silber is the author of “Abraham Lincoln and the Political Culture of New Deal American” in the September Journal of the Civil War Era. Susan J. Pearson’s review essay, “A New Birth of Regulation: The State of the State after the Civil War” appeared in the same issue.
The Fall Civil War Monitor featured Tony Horwitz’ essay on the recent controversy over the Confederate battle flag, “Embattled Banner.” William Marvel discussed Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton in “Minister of Deceit.”
Harold Holzer wrote “The Image Makers” for the November America’s Civil War.
Michael Burlingame wrote “At 31, Lincoln falls for Matilda, 18;” and John D. Bybee wrote “Countdown to Nance’s Emancipation” for the Fall For the People: A Newsletter of the Abraham Lincoln Association.
Dennis J. Curran and Emma Kingdon wrote “Abraham Lincoln: A Model for Today’s Trial Lawyers” for the October Massachusetts Law Review.
Frank J. Williams reviewed, in capsule form, some of the Abraham Lincoln and Civil War books published in 2015 (“The Civil War & Abraham Lincoln, 150 Years On”) for the November Civil War News.
The Winter 2014 Lincoln Herald included: “Mystery of John Wilkes Booth’s Autopsy Photo Solved” by John Elliott and Barry Cauchon and from the archives, “Lincoln and the Music of the Civil War” by the late Kenneth A. Bernard. The quarterly survey, “Lincolniana” by Frank J. Williams was also included, as were reviews edited by Michael Burkhimer.
Reviews
Terry Alford, Fortune’s Fool, The Life of John Wilkes Booth, rev. by Frank J. Piatek, Civil War News (September 2015).
John McKee Barr, Loathing Lincoln: An American Tradition from the Civil War to the Present, rev. by Kenneth J. Winkle, Journal of Civil War Era (June 2015).
Randal Berry, The Lincoln Assassination – Occasional Papers – Vol. 1, rev. by Hough Boyle, The Lincoln Herald (Winter 2014).
William A. Blair, With Malice toward Some: Treason and Loyalty in the Civil War, rev. by Cynthia Nicoletti, Journal of Civil War Era (June 2015); rev. by Jennifer L. Weber, Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association (Summer 2015).
Burrus M. Carnahan, Lincoln on Trial: Southern Civilians and the Law of War, rev. by Michael Burkhimer, The Lincoln Herald (Fall 2014).
Sean Conant, editor, The Gettysburg Address: Perspectives on Lincoln’s Greatest Speech, rev. by Frank J. Williams, Civil War News (September 2015).
Christopher Dickey, Our Man in Charleston, rev. by Howard Schneider, Wall Street Journal (July 18); rev. by Greg Grandin, New York Times Book Review (July 19).
Laura F. Edwards, A Legal History of the Civil War and Reconstruction: A Nation of Rights, rev. by Lex Renda, Civil War Book Review (Fall 2015).
Ron Elliott and John W. Snell, Through the Eyes of Lincoln: A Modern Photographic Journey, rev. by Richard Lawrence Miller, The Lincoln Herald (Winter 2014).
Stephen D. Engle, editor, The War Worth Fighting: Abraham Lincoln’s Presidency and Civil War American, rev. by Thomas A. Horrocks, Civil War News (September 2015); rev. by Frank J. Williams Civil War Book Review (Fall 2015).
Paul D. Escott, Uncommonly Savage: Civil War and Remembrance in Spain and the U.S., rev. by John M. Coski, Journal of Southern History (November 2015); rev. by Don H. Doyle, Journal of the Civil War Era (Vol. 5, Issue 3).
Roquinaldo Ferreira, Cross-Cultural Exchange in the Atlantic World: Angola and Brazil during the era of the Slave Trade, rev. by Linda M. Rupert, American Historical Review (June 2015).
David T. Gleeson and Simon Lewis, The Civil War as Global Conflict: Transnational Meanings of the American Civil War, rev. by Stephanie J. Richmond, Journal of Southern History (August 2015); rev. by Andrew Witmer, Journal of American History (June 2015).
William C. Harris, Lincoln and the Union Governors, rev. by Stephen D. Engle, Civil War History (June 2015); rev. by Elizabeth D. Leonard, Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association (Summer 2015).
Harold Holzer, editor, Lincoln As I Knew Him: Gossip, Tributes, and Revelations from His Best Friends and Worst Enemies, rev. by Jerry Carrier, The Lincoln Herald (Fall 2014).
Harold Holzer, editor, The Lincoln Anthology. Great Writers on His Life and Legacy from 1860 to Now, rev. by William D. Pederson, The Lincoln Herald (Winter 2014).
Harold Holzer and Sara Vaughn Gabbard, editors, 1865: America Makes War and Peace in Lincoln’s Final Year, rev. by David A. Galli, Civil War News (August 2015).
Harold Holzer, Lincoln and the Power of the Press: The War for Public Opinion, rev. by Gregory A. Borchard, Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association (Summer 2015).
Harold Holzer, Craig L. Symonds, and Frank J. Williams, editors, Exploring Lincoln: Great Historians Reappraise our Greatest President, rev. by Thomas A. Horrocks, Civil War News (July 2015).
John T. Hubbell, editor, Conflict and Command, rev. by Michael Burkhimer, The Lincoln Herald (Winter 2014).
Vitor Izecksohn, Slavery and War in the Americas: Race, Citizenship, and State Building in the U.S. and Brazil, 1861-1870, rev. by Tim Roberts, Journal of the Civil War Era (Vol. 5, Issue 3).
Lewis E. Lehrman, Lincoln “by littles,” rev. by James Cornelius, Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association (Summer 2015).
Thomas E. Mackey, editor, A Documentary History of the American Civil War Era: Volume 4, Judicial Decisions 1867-1896, rev. by Jay Jorgensen, Civil War News (June 2015).
Gerard Magliocca, American Founding Son: John Bingham and the Invention of the Fourteenth Amendment, rev. by Clinton W. Terry, Civil War History (June 2015).
Scott Martelle, The Madman and the Assassin, rev. by, Gerard Helferich, Wall Street Journal (April 27, 2015).
William Marvel, Lincoln’s Autocrat: The Life of Edwin Stanton, rev. by Harold Holzer, Wall Street Journal (June 8, 2015); rev. by William Nester, Civil War Book Review (Fall 2015).
Louis P. Masur, Lincoln’s Last Speech: Wartime Reconstruction & The Crisis of Reunion, rev. by Gordon Berg, Civil War Times (October 2015).
Robert E. May, Slavery, Race, and Conquest in the Tropics: Lincoln, Douglas, and the future of Latin American, rev. by Sharon Hartman Strom, The Journal of Southern History (August 2015).
Donna D. McCreary, Lincoln’s Table: A President’s Culinary Journey from Cabin to Cosmopolitan, rev. by Paula Gidjunis, The Lincoln Herald (Summer 2014).
Edna Greene Medford, Lincoln and Emancipation, rev. by Kate Shepherd, For the People: A Newsletter of the Abraham Lincoln Association (Fall 2005).
Jared Peatman, The Long Shadow of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, rev. by Wayne C. Temple, The Lincoln Herald (Winter 2014).
Kevin Peraino, Lincoln in the World: The Making of a Statesman and the Dawn of American Power, rev. by Wayne C. Temple, The Lincoln Herald (Fall 2014); rev. by Frank J. Cirillo, Civil War History (June 2015).
Richard M. Reid, African Canadians in Union Blue: Enlisting for the Cause in the Civil War, rev. by Steven J. Ramold, American Historical Review (October 2015).
Leonard L. Richards, Who Freed the Slaves?: The Fight over the Thirteenth Amendment, rev. by Walt Albro, Civil War News (July 2015).
John C. Rodrigue, Lincoln and Reconstruction, rev. by Keith Hebert, Civil War History (June 2015); rev. by Elizabeth D. Leonard, Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association (Summer 2015).
Christian G. Samito, Lincoln and the Thirteenth Amendment, rev. by Barbara Berenson, Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly, (October 19, 2015).
Jonathan D. Sarna and Benjamin Shapell, Lincoln and the Jews: A History, rev. by John F. Marszalek, Civil War News (September 2015).
Glenna R. Schroeder-Lein, Lincoln and Medicine, rev. by, Michael Burkhimer, The Lincoln Herald (Summer 2014).
Thomas E. Sebrell II, Persuading John Bull: Union and Confederate Propaganda in Britain, 1860-1865, rev. by Adrian Brettle, Journal of the Civil War Era (Vol. 5, Issue 3).
Aaron Sheehan-Dean, editor, A Companion to the U.S. Civil War, rev. by Andrew F. Lange, Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association (Summer 2015).
John David Smith, Lincoln and the U.S. Colored Troops, rev. by Andrew Diemer, Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association (Summer 2015).
Edward Steers, Jr., Hoax: Hitler’s Diaries, Lincoln’s Assassins, and other Famous Frauds, rev. by Robert G. Wick, The Lincoln Herald (Summer 2014).
Ferenc Morton Szasz and Margaret Connell Szasz, Lincoln and Religion, rev. by James Cornelius, Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association (Summer 2015).
Jonathan W. White, Lincoln on Law, Leadership, and Life, rev. by Thomas A. Horrocks, Civil War News (July 2015).
John Fabian Witt, Lincoln’s Code: The Laws of War in American History, rev. by Jennifer M. Murray, Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association (Summer 2015).
Albert A. Woldman, Lawyer Lincoln, rev. by Michael Burkhimer, The Lincoln Herald (Summer 2014).
Steven Woodward, editor, The Chattanooga Campaign, rev. by Michael Burkhimer, The Lincoln Herald (Fall 2014).
David Work, Lincoln’s Political Generals, rev. by Jerry Carrier, The Lincoln Herald (Fall 2014).
People
Harold Holzer, co-founder of The Lincoln Forum and author of 51 books relating to Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War, retired as Senior Vice President for Public Affairs at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on July 31. He has been appointed the Jonathan F. Fanton Director of Hunter College’s Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute. Holzer will oversee the institute’s public programming, student curricula, and academic research. He will also serve on the Hunter faculty as a professor in the history department.
Ron J. Keller, Associate Professor of History and Political Science and Director of The Lincoln Heritage Museum at Lincoln College, Lincoln, IL, gave up his duties as museum director to become a full-time faculty member at the college on August 7.
David Gerlach was inaugurated the 22nd President of Lincoln College on November 8. Home of the new Lincoln Heritage Museum, the city of Lincoln was surveyed by Abraham Lincoln, who later received an honorary degree from Lincoln College.
Abraham Lincoln interpreter George Buss of Freeport, IL, who has been portraying Abraham Lincoln locally and nationally for years, has been tapped to become permanent successor to the late Jim Getty, who portrayed Lincoln for 40 years at the National Military Park in Gettysburg. On November 19, Buss delivered Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address at the annual dedication day in Soldiers’ National Cemetery at the Gettysburg National Military Park.
Lincoln and Political Culture
Charles M. Blow’s column “Restoring the Memoriam to Memorial Day” in the May 25 New York Times Op-Ed estimated the human cost of war, reminding us that Memorial Day did not begin as a day of celebration or “commerce” but one of solemnity. He opines that society is moving in a direction in which the rich and powerful avoid military service while those with fewer means see it as one of only few opportunities. “In a way, Memorial Day may be a time for use to consider the evolution of this day: a day established by a disadvantaged population to honor war heroes who now belong to a military whose members are increasingly being drawn from a disadvantaged population.”
Mark E. Neely, Jr., in The War Worth Fighting: Abraham Lincoln’s Presidency and Civil War America, edited by Stephen D. Engle, challenges the “Great Writ” of habeas corpus. He argues that despite the attacks on Lincoln for his suspension of habeas corpus as an attack on the liberties expected by Americans, the petitions for habeas corpus were often used to excuse underage boys from military service and custody disputes. The arguments over habeas corpus were a power struggle between the executive and legislative branches and the Republican and Democrat parties – “not for liberty.”
Allen C. Guelzo in his op-ed for The New York Times on July 3, discussed the paradox of Thomas Jefferson – the man and the politician. Abraham Lincoln admired the Jefferson who articulated the vision of equality in the Declaration of Independence but did not appreciate Jefferson “as a man,” not only because of his liaison with his slave Sally Hemings, but because of Jefferson’s economic policies. Jefferson believed that the only real wealth was land, but Lincoln saw very little there except mind-numbing labor. Jefferson despised “the selfish spirit of commerce,” but Lincoln promoted a state banking system and public funding for canals and bridges while an Illinois state legislator. What this does is to emphasize the importance of discernment. Lincoln was capable of understanding both the strengths and weaknesses of Thomas Jefferson and the other founders.
Reviewer Michiko Kakutani praised President Obama for his eulogy at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, SC in her New York Times column of July 3. Emphasizing Lincoln’s Second Inaugural and its message of reconciliation and healing, President Obama believed, as did Lincoln, that our nation was founded upon the idea of new beginnings, and the enduring belief, that, like Lincoln, “We can constantly remake ourselves to fit our larger dreams.”
William C. (“Jack”) Davis in a lengthy, but telling, essay for the July 11-12 Wall Street Journal, discussed the controversy over the use of the Confederate battle flag as a symbol which must not be misunderstood or whitewashed. While it is a good thing that the Confederacy failed, Davis believes that Americans “cannot afford to forget the Confederacy… as it teaches lessons about Americans themselves – about how they have reacted in crisis, about matters beyond just slavery and sacrifice that constitute the bedrock of our national being.”
Cartoonist Pat Bagley of the Salt Lake Tribune created a cartoon on July 29 showing the Lincoln Memorial with Lincoln staring askance at former Texas Governor Perry who declaims, “There otta be more guns in theaters!”
Sean Wilentz, in his op-ed for the September 16 New York Times, argued that “Constitutionally, slavery is no national institution.” The Civil War began over the question, “Did the Constitution of the United States recognize slavery – property and humans – in national law?” Southern slaveholders argued that it did but Northern Republicans, led by Lincoln, denied it. While the war decided the question, Wilentz believes that the United States was founded on racial slavery is a myth. According to Wilentz, “Far from a proslavery compact of ‘racist principles,’ the Constitution was based on a repudiation of the idea of a nation dedicated to the proposition of property and humans.” “Without the anti-slavery outcome in 1787 when the Constitution was adopted, slavery would not have reached ‘ultimate extinction’ in 1865.”
The September 20 Washington Post Magazine reported that in 2014 a record number of travelers, 18.3 million, visited Washington, and the most visited site was the Lincoln Memorial with 7,139,072 followed by the Vietnam Veterans Memorial at 4,403,467.
Assassination
Volume XXIX (2015) of The Journal of the Lincoln Assassination has been published by Fredrick Hatch and his Autograph Press. Contents included: “Lincoln Assassination Sesquicentennial in Washington, D.C.”; “Reminiscences of Abraham Lincoln”; “Persons Declining Lincoln’s Invitation to the Theatre”; “Reaction to the Assassination”; “Investigation and Trail Papers Relating to the Assassination of Abraham Lincoln”; and reviews of: Lincoln’s Citadel, Lincoln’s Citadel, by K. Winkle; Memorial Record of the Nation’s Tribute to Abraham Lincoln by B.F. Morris; A Finger in Lincoln’s Brain by E.L. Abel; and William P. Wood, Warden of Old Capitol Prison.
The 150th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s assassination was commemorated at the Dr. Samuel A. Mudd House Museum, Lincoln 150: On the Trail of the Assassin, in Waldorf, MD.
Lincoln’s Final Hours: Conspiracy, Terror, and the Assassination of America’s Greatest President by Kathryn Canavan has been published by University Press of Kentucky.
Works in Progress
Herndon on Lincoln: Letters of William H. Herndon, edited by Douglas L. Wilson and Rodney O. Davis will be published in February 2016 by University of Illinois Press as another in this series from the Knox College Lincoln Studies Center.
Sean Wilentz’s new book, The Politicians & The Egalitarians: The Hidden History of American Politics will be published Spring 2016.
Random House will publish a new biography of Ulysses S. Grant, American Ulysses in the Fall of 2016 by Ronald White, Jr.
Glen LaFantasie is at work on a Lincoln and Grant book for Oxford University Press.
Necrology
Abraham Lincoln interpreter James Getty died on September 26. He was 83. For 19 years, Jim interpreted Lincoln at the annual meetings of The Lincoln Forum. He was the annual presenter of the Gettysburg Address at Dedication Day ceremonies at the National Military Cemetery each November 19 in Gettysburg.
Edith M. Myers, 98, passed away at her home on June 12. She and her late husband, James, became principal partners in buying, restoring, and managing the Lincoln-Herndon law office building prior to its acquisition by the State of Illinois. She also founded and ran Prairie House Gallery, a venue for the display and sales of contemporary American crafts.
Donna Gayle Herndon Richards, a great-great-granddaughter of William Herndon, last law partner of Abraham Lincoln, died on June 17.
Author’s Note
I want to thank Florence J. Baur, Randal Berry, Roger Billings, Kenneth L. Childs, Aaron Crawford, Sybil and Bill Forsythe, Harold Holzer, Richard Sloan, Tom Lapsley, Dave Leroy, William D. Pederson, Dennis E. Stark, Joseph Fornieri, Robert F. Henderson, Thomas Horrocks, Wayne C. Temple, Edward Steers, Jr., David J. Stiller, Jo Dzombak, Guy C. Fraker, Malcolm Garber, Mike Marlow, Ralph S. McCrea, William K. Miller, Tracey Minkin, David Warren, John Schildt, Philip W. Stichter, Thomas J. Trimborn, Justice William P. Robinson III, Judges W. Dennis Duggan and Dennis Curran, Frank and Virginia Musgrave, Mike Gross and Virginia Williams for providing information for this column. I welcome news concerning Abraham Lincoln. Please contact me at 300 Switch Road, Hope Valley, RI 02832; fax (401) 364-3642; e-mail alincoln@courts.ri.gov.