Forty libraries nationwide to host Forever Free: Abraham Lincoln's Journey to Emancipation traveling exhibition

Contact: Laura Hayes


312-280-5055


lhayes@ala.org

For Immediate Release


April 28, 2003

Thirty-nine libraries nationwide to host Forever Free: Abraham Lincoln’s Journey to Emancipation traveling exhibition

The American Library Association (ALA) Public Programs Office, The Huntington Library, the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History and National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) have named 39 public and academic libraries across the country as sites for the “Forever Free: Abraham Lincoln’s Journey to Emancipation” exhibit tour.
The exhibit reexamines President Lincoln’s efforts toward the abolition of slavery during the Civil War. Organized by The Huntington’s John Rhodehamel, Norris Foundation Curator of American Historical Manuscripts, the exhibit will consist of reproductions of rare historical documents from The Huntington’s collections and those of the Gilder Lehrman Institute, and will draw on the latest scholarship in the field.

The libraries selected for the tour will host the exhibit for a six-week period between October 2003 and December 2006.
Libraries will make the exhibit available for public viewing and host a number of educational programs and receptions to increase the public’s understanding and study of the exhibit and its themes.
All showings of the exhibition and related programs will be free and open to the public.

“This exhibit provides libraries with many excellent programming themes that will help audiences to understand the process Lincoln went through in deciding to support the abolition of slavery,” said Susan Brandehoff, program director for traveling exhibitions and broadcast media in the ALA Public Program Office.
“Selection for the tour was highly competitive – we received 165 applications from more than 40 states.”

The libraries selected for the tour are (in alphabetical order by state):

  • Birmingham Public Library, Birmingham, Ala.
  • Springdale Public Library, Springdale, Ark.
  • San Diego Public Library, San Diego, Calif.
  • Nova Southeastern University Information Technology Center, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
  • Three Rivers Regional Library System, Brunswick, Ga.
  • Decatur Public Library, Decatur, Ill.
  • Highland Park Public Library, Highland Park, Ill.
  • Orland Park Public Library, Orland Park, Ill.
  • Pekin Public Library, Pekin, Ill.
  • Tippecanoe County Public Library, Lafayette, Ind.
  • Hays Public Library, Hays, Kan.
  • Leavenworth Public Library, Leavenworth, Kan.
  • Western Kentucky University Helms-Craven Library & Museum, Bowling Green, Ky.
  • Tisch Library, Tufts University, Medford, Mass.
  • Enoch Pratt Free Library, Baltimore, Md.
  • Southfield Public Library, Southfield, Mich.
  • Ypsilanti District Library, Ypsilanti, Mich.
  • University of Minnesota Elmer L. Andersen Library, Minneapolis, Minn.
  • Southwest Missouri State University, Springfield, Mo.
  • Public Library of Hattiesburg Petal & Forest County, Hattiesburg, Miss.
  • Gaston County Public Library, Gastonia, N.C.
  • Virginia City High School/Community Library, Virginia City, Nev.
  • University at Buffalo, Lockwood Memorial Library, Buffalo, N.Y.
  • Middletown Thrall Library, Middletown, N.Y.
  • City College of New York, New York City, N.Y.
  • Public Library of Cincinnati & Hamilton County, Cincinnati, Ohio
  • Mustang Public Library, Mustang, Okla.
  • Gettysburg College Musselman Library, Gettysburg, Pa.
  • Community College of Allegheny County Campus Library, Pittsburgh, Pa.
  • Providence Public Library, Providence, R.I.
  • Charleston County Public Library, Charleston, S.C.
  • Georgetown County Public Library, Georgetown, S.C.
  • Fisk University John Hope & Aurelia Franklin Library & Media Center, Nashville, Tenn.
  • Memphis-Shelby County Public Library & Information Center, Memphis, Tenn.
  • Irving Public Library, Irving, Texas
  • Park City Public Library, Park City, Utah
  • Williamsburg Regional Library, Williamsburg, Va.
  • Ilsley Public Library, Middlebury, Vt.
  • Lawrence University Libraries, Appleton, Wis.

“Forever Free: Abraham Lincoln’s Journey to Emancipation” is organized by The Huntington Library of San Marino, Calif., and the ALA Public Programs Office with major grants from the NEH and the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.

The ALA Public Programs Office fosters cultural programming by libraries of all types.
Established in 1990, the office helps thousands of libraries nationwide develop and host programs that encourage dialogue among community members and works to establish libraries as cultural centers in their communities.

For more information about “Forever Free,” please visit www.ala.org/publicprograms/.