The Lincoln Forum 2019 – and a big apology!

[Angela]

Hello all – and please forgive me! I have been neglecting this place for the longest time and I do not even have a good excuse for it other than being busy on all ends.
I cannot thank GeneC for his note from yesterday, giving me that little kick that was needed to say “hello” after a long time.

You all might have already been informed about the program of the 24th Annual Lincoln Forum Symposium in Gettysburg a few weeks ago, so I think I’ll just share the highlights and some behind-the-scenes happenings.
If there should be any additional questions, just fire away!

First of all, it was a record attendance weekend in many different ways. Not only is room getting tight at the Wyndham now in general, but also there was a record number of first-time-attendees of 50 people this year.
Quite spectacular!

What surprised me a little was the large number of people who had spontaneously decided to arrive a day early. Many more than usual.
They were all treated to a wonderful tour of downtown Gettysburg and the National Cemetery by this forum’s member, Scott Schroeder.

I think we can all agree that Scott is not only a great writer and enthusiastic researcher; I can now firmly state that he is a brilliant tour guide as well.
Sensing keenly how well schooled his audience was, he still managed to give a short but interesting summary of the events leading to Abraham Lincoln’s visit in November of 1863 that had everyone eagerly awaiting to following hour.
Peppered with anecdotes and little known facts his presentation was pure bliss and everyone in attendance agreed to have learned something knew in that place we all thought we know so well.

My two personal highlights this year at the Symposium were Peter S. Carmichael’s presentation on “Union Soldiers, Lincoln, and the Politics of Pragmatism” and a wonderful panel on “The Rise and Fall of Confederate Monuments”.

While the latter, no doubt, awoke many different emotions, the high-class panelists discussed this topic professionally and the audience – though full of questions and comments – showed great respect.

While I was not in full agreement with some of Prof. Carmichael’s conclusions, his presentation was brilliant – as is his book “The War for the Common Soldier” which I am about half way through and cannot wait to finish to conclude the debate we have started.

A new addition to the Symposium is sculptor Frank Porcu – not only a kindhearted and likable artist but also a true genius who did less telling and more showing of how he achieves his results.
People were invited to watch him work and even allowed to ask questions while it happened. His statues are beautiful and no one was surprised that he completely sold out by day 2.
He will have to bring more next year!

Last year, I was asked on to the board of advisors – a great honor for a foreigner and someone who can bring so little to the table in terms of background – and together with some others, I have started to work on the Forum’s online presence in social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram).
Throughout the Symposium, we had a wonderful audience that reached out continuously, send in questions for the panelists and even participated in the sales of T-Shirts on behalf of the teacher scholarship fund.
It was great to see how quickly people embraced this form of communication, especially those who could not be in attendance personally but made sure we all know that they would have loved to. It is certainly a big piece of work for the coming months.

And speaking of next year – the anniversary 25th Symposium will have some great surprises. I am not telling too much when I say that coming a day early again might not be a mistake…after all, we ALWAYS think this event is just not long enough.
And if interest keeps growing – we’ll just bunk like Lincoln did back on the circuit!

Over the past few months I have also been working on making Mr. Lincoln’s wish for travel come true and hope to bring not just a statue but a living, breathing Lincoln to my fellow Germans in 2020.
As of now, some really nice venues are booked and with the help of Eva from this forum, it might not even just be a German tour, but a European.
I am looking forward to work with the different institutions on bringing the idea of Living History, re-enactment and historical interpretation on the highest level to a new continent and audience.

At the same time, I have joined some German institutions that are working in the field of scholarly exchange between our countries.
A group of young leaders will be visiting Gettysburg in the summer of 2020 as well and I am terribly proud of them having made that decision.

Ok, before it all sounds too self serving on my behalf of declaring myself busy, please, once again accept my apology, I vow to do better in the future here!
I will now go look for some pictures from the Symposium and post them in the comments!