By: Kelsey Johnston Baltimore, Maryland February 23, 2026 The Lincoln Group of DC and the Civil War Roundtable of the District of Columbia hosted a joint birthday celebration of Abraham Lincoln's 217th birthday on February 10, 2026. The group met in-person and virtually to celebrate with a special guest. Frederick Douglass portrayer Nathan Richardson joined the groups to discuss the connection between Douglass, Lincoln, and the Declaration of Independence. The program was esp

by David J. Kent Washington, DC Friday, February 20, 2026 The annual Abraham Lincoln Institute (ALI) Symposium will be held at Ford's Theatre on March 21, 2026, and the Lincoln Group of DC will be featured. This is the first of a series of posts highlighting the upcoming symposium. As mentioned previously , the ALI Symposium this year is a huge change from previous years. Rather than five authors speaking about their books, 2026 will have four panels, each with a pair of spea

By Ed Epstein Washington, D.C. February 12, 2026 For a guy who's been gone since 1865, Abraham Lincoln proved today on his 217th birthday that he can still draw a crowd. The Lincoln Group's memorial wreath inside the Lincoln Memorial chamber. Some two dozen memorial wreaths were placed at the foot of the epic sculpture by Daniel Chester French of a seated Lincoln inside the Lincoln Memorial at the west end of the National Mall in the nation's capital. The wreaths came from th

By Bill Shepherd Feb. 10, 2026 Note: This article first appeared on the Lincoln250.org blog, which is devoted to Abraham Lincoln and the Declaration of Independence. On Nov. 19, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln offered the nation his vision of the true meaning of the sacrifices made on the Gettysburg battlefield. In the first sentence of his speech, Lincoln transported us back to 1776 and the remarkable promise made in the Declaration of Independence — “all men are created e

By: Kelsey Johnston Baltimore, Maryland Feb. 3 2026 Raymond McKoski is a retired circuit court judge in suburban Chicago who now teaches law at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He recently joined Lincoln Group members to discuss his new book, "David Davis - Abraham Lincoln's Favorite Judge," and how life on the Illinois court circuit shaped the destinies of these two great men. Judge David Davis was one of Abraham Lincoln’s closest political associates. Lincoln was a ci

By Ed Epstein Washington, D.C. Monday, February 2, 2026 Corrects the date of the program's premiere to Saturday Feb. 7 The video of the moving ceremony last September 22, at which a statue of a seated President Abraham Lincoln signing the Emancipation Proclamation was dedicated, will debut this Saturday evening, February 7, on C-SPAN2's American History TV. Part of the crowd at the Sept. 22 event. That's President Lincoln at the center behind the wreath, surrounded by admirin

By Ed Epstein Washington, D.C. Jan. 27, 2026 "Lincoln," a new symphony by 88-year-old American composer Philip Glass, won't have its world premiere at the Kennedy Center in Washington as Glass joins a long line of artists to boycott the center in protest of President Donald Trump's renaming of the center for himself. "Glass' Symphony No. 15," as it's formally named, draws its inspiration in good part on the words of young Abraham Lincoln's1838 Lyceum speech in Springfield, Il

By Ed Epstein Washington, D.C. Friday, January 23, 2026 The Trump administration wants to hold an IndyCar race this summer on the National Mall, including around the Lincoln Memorial, but the idea faces opposition from congressional Democrats, according to reports. Punchbowl News , a daily newsletter that covers Congress in detail, reported this morning that Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has told congressional leaders the plan calls for a race on Friday, August 21. The

By John A. O'Brien Denver, Colorado Thursday, January 22, 2026 The Lincoln Group of the District of Columbia is proud to have a subgroup dedicated to Lincoln scholarship that has been working for a decade. The Study Forum has been meeting once each month for more than ten years, reading books about Lincoln and his era. From Michael Burlingame's 2-volume Green Monster ( Abraham Lincoln: A Life ) to Lincoln's Sense of Humor , the Forum has taken on in depth studies in an inform

by David J. Kent Washington, D.C. Thursday, January 22, 2026 The Lincoln Group of DC is co-sponsoring the annual Abraham Lincoln Institute (ALI) Symposium at Ford's Theatre in Washington, DC on March 21, 2026. And now you can order your free tickets. Order here: https://fords.org/event/abraham-lincoln-institute-symposium/ We highly recommend you reserve your free tickets now as this year we have a special format and many special guests, including David Rubenstein, some Pulitz

By David J. Kent Washington, DC Sunday, January 11, 2026 The Abraham Lincoln Institute, with co-sponsorship from the Lincoln Group of D.C., will present the annual ALI Symposium at Ford's Theatre on Saturday, March 21, 2026 . As I previewed before , the Lincoln Group proposed that ALI do a special program that honors Abraham Lincoln's commitment to the Declaration of Independence and the aspiration that "all men are created equal" to mark the 250th anniversary of the Declarat

By Jeffrey Boutwell and William F. Walsh Jan. 7 2026 It’s always fun to find unusual connections between famous people, especially those living in different centuries and from very different walks of life. The two of us found such a connection, extending from Abraham Lincoln to Jane Goodall, as follows: One: Jeffrey and Bill meet through their membership in the Lincoln Group of D.C. Two: While corresponding by email, Bill notices that Jeffrey lives on Ring Dove Lane in C

By Ed Epstein Washington, D.C. Dec. 31, 2025 Lincoln250.org The dawning year of 2026 will bring the 250th anniversary -- the semiquincentennial of the Declaration of Independence -- and amid all the celebrations it's important to remember the message of Abraham Lincoln, the Declaration's fiercest, most-steadfast advocate. Lincoln understood that the Declaration's "proposition that all men (all people in today's terms) are created equal" was not a statement of fact, but rather

By Bill Shepherd Friday, December 26, 2025 (This article originally appeared on Lincoln250.org , our separate website dedicated to Abraham Lincoln and the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence in 2026.) Abraham Lincoln’s faith in the promise of the Declaration of Independence - that all people are created equal and that they should get opportunities to succeed in life - was shaped in good part by his often-overlooked ancestral roots in Virginia’s Shenandoah Val

Washington, D.C. Dec. 23, 2025 Abraham Lincoln was known for being rather indifferent about food, but one recollection from his youth made it clear that one of his favorite foods was the gingerbread man cookies he recalled that his mother baked for him. At holiday time, which is also cookie time, it's worth remembering his favorite. During one of the Lincoln-Douglas debates in1858 Lincoln told a light-hearted story about his boyhood in Indiana, where his family moved in 1816,

By David J. Kent Washington, DC Wednesday, December 17, 2025 Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation freed those enslaved in the areas still in rebellion against the United States. Lincoln then fought for passage of the 13th Amendment ending slavery forever. Despite these actions and the 14th and 15th Amendments that followed from them, basic civil rights for African Americans remained elusive. It would be actions taken nearly 100 years after Lincoln's efforts that finall

Author Stacy Lynn joined the Lincoln Group of DC on December 9, to discuss her book Loving Lincoln: A Personal History of the Women who Shaped Lincoln’s Life and Legacy . She also talked about her long career researching and cataloging Abraham Lincoln's paper and then engaged in a discussion with LGDC members. Lynn is a professional Lincoln historian and editor who says she grew frustrated that male historians often overlooked Lincoln's love for, and friendships with, women a

By John A. O'Brien Denver, Colorado Monday, December 8, 2025 The Lincoln Forum at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, in November was a glorious experience for any Lincoln buff. There was a superb lineup of Lincoln scholars introducing their latest books and papers. The annual conference occurs about the time of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address and includes appropriate commemoration ceremonies. This year the Lincoln Group of the District of Columbia was particularly well represented. Thirt

By David J. Kent Washington, D.C. Monday, December 1, 2025 Ronald Rietveld passed away on November 27, 2025, at the age of 88. Rietveld was a professor of history at California State University–Fullerton for many years, although he is best known for his discovery at the age of 14 of the only known photograph of Abraham Lincoln in his coffin, taken April 24, 1865, as he lay in repose in New York during the long train ride back to Springfield. Rietveld's discovery shocked hist

By Ed Epstein Washington D.C. Friday, November 21, 2025 What does the visiting governor of Illinois get the first Chicago-born pope as a gift when he visits the pontiff at the Vatican? Lincoln: The Life and Legacy that Defined a Nation in 100 Object s, a new book featuring dozens of objects from the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield. The book, authored by Christina Shutt, the ALPLM's executive director, and Ian Hunt, director of acquisitions, was