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proclamation

In conjunction with the 150th anniversary of President Abraham Lincoln’s issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation, the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo will host the James Oliver Horton Symposium on Abraham Lincoln on Saturday, May 25, 1:30 p.m. in UCB 100. A second day of the symposium will be held at UH Mānoa on Sunday, May 26, 1:30 p.m. at the Art Auditorium.

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

Symposium lecture series

  • The President William McKinley Distinguished Professor of Law and Public Policy at Albany Law School Paul Finkelman presents “How a Railroad Lawyer Became the Great Emancipator.” Having lectured throughout the US, Europe, Asia and Latin America, Finkelman is the author of more than 30 books, along with various legal opinions which have been cited by the U.S. Supreme Court.
  • Distinguished Professor of Humanities, Professor of History and Computer Science at Clemson University, and the Director of the Clemson Cyber Institute Orville Vernon Burton will speak on “Lincoln, Emancipation and Education.” Burton’s The Age of Lincoln won numerous awards and was nominated for a Pulitzer.
  • University of Richmond President Edward L. Ayers will present “Where Did Freedom Come From?” Awarded the National Professor of the Year from the Carnegie Foundation, Ayers is the recipient of numerous awards including the Bancroft Prize for distinguished writing in American History.

Tickets for either day/location of these limited seating events, including the reception, are $8 and available online or by calling the UH Hilo Conference Center at (808) 974-7555.

For more information about the symposium, visit the symposium website.

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