Today Marks the 145th Anniversary of the Lincoln Assassination
By FUPress
14th April 2010
On April 14, 1865, just days after the end of the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated in a bloody act of rebellion that stirred the world and shaped a nation’s identity. Harold Holzer, premier Lincoln scholar, together with co-editors Craig L. Symonds and Frank J. Williams, has added a book of essays examining the cultural, historical, and political impact of this event to his already extensive body of work on Abraham Lincoln. The Lincoln Assassination: Crime and Punishment, Myth and Memory , forthcoming in June, offers a close look at the assassination itself and the immediate aftermath, chronicling the pursuit and prosecution of the conspirators–a relentless period that isn’t often written about. All of the contributors are leading Lincoln scholars, and each essay offers a new perspective on an event that shook a still-fledgling nation.
Now in paperback, Summers with Lincoln: Looking for the Man in the Monuments won the 2009 J. Owen Grundy History Award for its provoking look at what the 200 statues erected in Lincoln’s honor mean to us as Americans. James Percoco, a high school history teacher, embarked on a journey spanning four summers and an entire country, seeking t
o understand the significance behind Lincoln’s being the single most commemorated American in history. Along the way, he documents each monument’s history and impact in the community, discovering the human stories behind the immutable stone. Acclaimed author and Civil War historian James M. McPherson says of the book, “This splendid evocation of Lincoln’s image in sculpture combines poetic description, human-interest anecdotes, and incisive analysis. James Percoco shows how the different styles of public art shed light on the changing memories of our greatest president. Each chapter alone is worth the price of this book.”