November 2, 2012
11/05/12 As part of the traveling Lincoln exhibit now at the Huffington Library, the Culver Academies’ will host a Lincoln-related seminar Tuesday, Nov. 6, at 7 p.m. featuring Samuel Graber, Ph.D., of Valparaiso University.
The national traveling exhibit “Lincoln: The Constitution and the Civil War” will end its five-week stay at the Huffington Library on Nov. 16. The Lincoln exhibit is free and open to the public Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sundays from noon to 7 p.m.
Programming related to the exhibit will continue on Sunday, Nov. 11, with a Civil War Quiz Bowl at 2 p.m. in the library’s Presentation Room pitting the Academies’ state championship team against a faculty/staff team in a test of knowledge of Lincoln, his presidency, and the Civil War. The faculty/staff team will be composed of Richard Battersby, Phil Blessman, Lauren Coil-Sherck, and Alex Wendling. Humanities instructor Jacquie Erwin, Ph.D., will serve as moderator.
Graber’s topic will be “Lincoln’s Constitution & Civil War: A pivotal point in becoming a world power.” His appearance is sponsored by the Academies’ Global Studies Institute, which brings scholars, policymakers, and thinkers to campus to engage students, faculty, and staff. Graber holds a Ph.D. in American Studies from the University of Iowa and is a visiting assistant professor at Valparaiso University.
Graber’s research and teaching interests include 19th-century American literature and culture, transatlantic studies, national memory, and religion. His dissertation, “Twice-Divided Nation: the Civil War and National Memory in the Transatlantic World” explores how transatlantic communication and the special relationship affected the early cultural representation and commemoration of the American Civil War.
Lincoln Exhibit Explores Constitutional Struggles
Composed of informative panels featuring photographic reproductions of original documents, such as a draft of Lincoln’s first inaugural speech and the Emancipation Proclamation, the exhibit examines how President Lincoln struggled with issues of secession, slavery, and civil liberties — all questions the U.S. Constitution left unanswered. Each section features information about a different aspect of Lincoln’s presidency. For example, the slavery portion examines the various policy options Lincoln once embraced and how his thoughts about slavery evolved over time.
The National Constitution Center and the American Library Association Public Programs Office organized the traveling exhibition, which was made possible by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH): great ideas brought to life. The traveling exhibition is based on an exhibition of the same name developed by the National Constitution Center.
About the Academies
Located on Lake Maxinkuckee in Culver, Ind., Culver Academies is a boarding school offering a college-preparatory curriculum for boys and girls in grades nine through 12.
Culver has an enrollment this year of 806 students representing 37 states and 28 countries. Approximately 20 percent of the students are international, coming from such countries as Canada, China, Germany, Guatemala, Korea, Mexico, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom.
Culver’s mission is to educate its students for leadership and responsible citizenship by developing and nurturing the whole individual through integrated programs that emphasize the cultivation of character.
Founded in 1894, the boys’ school, Culver Military Academy, is based upon a military-type system used to teach self-discipline, responsibility, and leadership. Culver Girls Academy, founded in 1971, and is based upon the prefect system, with girls practicing democratic, self-rule to achieve similar values.
The Academies and the six-week Culver Summer Schools & Camps, with an enrollment of 1,400 for boys and girls ages 9-17, operate on the same 1,800-acre campus in Marshall County in north-central Indiana.
For more information, visit www.culver.org.