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The Peters Township Public Library will host a trio of free events focusing on President Abraham Lincoln beginning in August and running through September.

Impressionist Richard Miller as Abraham Lincoln

Beginning Tuesday, August 30 through Tuesday, September 27, the library was chosen by Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History to host the exhibit Looking at Lincoln: Political Cartoons from the Civil War Era. This national traveling exhibition explores the Civil War and issues of slavery through political cartoons depicting Abraham Lincoln and his policies. These cartoons are vividly biting; they invite us to put aside twenty-first-century assumptions and look at events through the eyes of people living in the era.

On Thursday, September 8 from 7-8:30 p.m. the library will host “An Evening with President Lincoln.” Impressionist Richard Miller will share stories and anecdotes from Lincoln’s presidency and early years. Questions are encouraged to enhance the interaction with the audience. Miller is a member of the Association of Lincoln presenters and portrays Lincoln several times a year at parades, fairs, and other events. He is an avid reader of books about Lincoln and finds him to possess an outstanding sense of humor. Register to attend this program by emailing programs@ptlibrary.org or call 724.941.9430 #1.

Dr. Elaine Frantz Parsons visits the library on Thursday, September 22 from 7 – 8:30 p.m. for her presentation, “Abraham Lincoln: The Careworn, Gentle Face of Wartime Violence.” Political cartoons, like other popular media, often focused on the person of Abraham Lincoln as a way to think about the inconceivable violence of the Civil War. Depicted as a calm, rational man, slow to anger, physically strong yet ungainly and nonthreatening, Lincoln came to serve as a sign of the controlled and patient wisdom of the north, as opposed to the aggression of the south. As a plain "man of the people", his was the common sense of the common man. This made the fact that he controlled a capacity for violence unknown to the nation seemingly less troubling. This program will discuss how the figure of Lincoln mediated discussions of violence during the war.

Dr. Parsons is an associate professor of history at Duquesne University. Her most recent book, Ku-Klux: The Birth of the Klan in the Reconstruction Era, was published in January 2016. She is currently working on a labor history of hired violence workers. Register to attend this program by emailing programs@ptlibrary.org or call 724-941-9430 #1.

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