Alex Maenchen
Features Reporter

Photo by Malissa Smithey

CMU is currently hosting a traveling exhibition about Abraham Lincoln organized by the National Constitution Center and the American Library Association Public Programs Office.

Titled “Lincoln: The Constitution and the Civil War,” the exhibit focuses primarily on the period of emancipation and the struggles Lincoln faced in passing the Thirteenth Amendment, which saw slavery abolished in the United States nearly 150 years ago.

“Lincoln has become quite a bit of a mythical character in the American pantheon and I think even in the world,” Jim Dildine said.

Dildine, the Special Collections & Archives librarian at CMU, has augmented the exhibit with items from the Tomlinson Library archives.

“The day before the exhibit opened, we suddenly ran across a box of ephemera from the period of Lincoln, ephemera being things that were like posters announcing Lincoln’s assassination, and I think we had the playlist for the Ford Theater,” Dildine said. “Things like this, a lot of that was original material.”

These original materials, which are surprisingly extensive and also include photographs, pamphlets, newspapers and documents, are set up in display cases in the library’s entrance area. Each piece of history adds a little something to the legacy of Lincoln, whose reach is wide and far.

The exhibit itself, located on the ground floor of the Tomlinson Library, consists of three major “pods” (tall, wide and curved three-sided panels) that use text and images to illustrate the political and social issues challenging Lincoln and the Union in a time of civil war, dealing specifically with the subjects of secession, slavery and civil liberties.

“These [traveling exhibits] are really symbolic. They’re consciousness-raising and trying to keep important issues in the forefront,” Dildine said. “I think it’s important for each generation to keep the next generation informed of that, as far as the intellectual and humanist advancement of culture.”

Open to the public, the Lincoln exhibit is the first of its kind and magnitude on campus, according to Cindy Lueb, the director of the Office of Sponsored Programs at CMU. Made possible by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, to which CMU submitted a proposal in 2009 and was granted the following year, Lincoln: the Constitution and the Civil War is based on an exhibition of the same name developed by the National Constitution Center and will visit 250 locations during its extended tour.

“The exhibit is a great opportunity for [CMU] as an institution to show what we have in our archives,” Lueb said. “It benefits our college students because it does expose them to some national traveling exhibits, some history, some things that they might not get to see otherwise. We all know about the Civil War and we all know about Lincoln, but really taking a look at it and understanding some of the things he struggled with in depth you don’t always get unless you’re a history major.”

Highlighting the scholarship of CMU’s faculty, Dr. Sarah Swedberg, Associate Professor of History, provided insights into slavery and the Civil War during a talk at the exhibit’s opening reception on November 25.

It won’t be the last time, however, the public can catch a bit of insight surrounding Lincoln. In January, Dr. Steven Schulte, Professor of History, will give a talk in conjunction with the Lincoln exhibit. Additionally, there will be a screening for the Academy Award-winning 2012 film Lincoln in the Robinson Theatre on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Jan. 20, 2014.

Lincoln: the Constitution and the Civil War is available for viewing during the Tomlinson Library’s normal hours until Jan. 24.

amaenche@mavs.coloradomesa.edu