LUNCH WITH BOOKS: Meet President Lincoln!

February 20, 2018
12:00pm - 12:00pm

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2018 AT NOON

Meet President Abraham Lincoln!

In September 1862, following the Union victory at the Battle of Antietam, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, declaring that all slaves in territory still in rebellion on Jan. 1, 1863, would be declared forever free. A constitutional amendment, however, was necessary to ensure the end of slavery. Lincoln’s victory in the 1864 presidential election set in motion the events leading to ratification of the amendment. The House passed the measure in Jan. 1865 and it was sent to the states for ratification. The newly form state of West Virginia ratified the 13th Amendment February 3, 1865, just four days after US Congress proposed it. The full ratification of the amendment, which states "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction," was completed on December 6, 1865, 8 months after the assassination of Lincoln. Join us in celebrating both Black History Month and Presidents' Day as Abraham Lincoln himself, as portrayed by Presidential Living Historian John W. King, visits us at Lunch With Books.

A full-sized, first-person portrayer of Lincoln at 6 feet 4 inches, John W. King has been telling the story of our 16th President for the past 30 years. A retired teacher from northeastern Ohio, John educates his audiences by bringing Mr. Lincoln to life for school students, historical groups, civic groups, churches, Civil War rededications, festivals, parades, and more. He is a Lifetime Member of the Association of Lincoln Presenters and was voted “Most Genuine-Looking Lincoln” at the 2013 Lincoln Look-Alike Contest, Shriver House Museum, Gettysburg, PA.

- Tuesday, February 20, 2018 - 
Lunch With Books starts at noon in the Library Auditorium.