Big Lincoln Symposium Upcoming in California

By Ed Epstein

Washington, D.C.

Thursday, September 3, 2026

Most Lincoln-related activities take place along the East Coast or in the Midwest, so it's a real treat to tell you about a major two-day Lincoln-related symposium late this month in southern California focused on Abraham Lincoln and this year's 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, the document that was his political lodestar.

The Watchorn Lincoln Memorial Association, which supports the work of the Lincoln Memorial Shrine, a museum and research center in Redlands, California, dedicated to the life and legacy of President Abraham Lincoln, is putting on the event entitled "Liberty's Legacy: Celebrating 250 Years of Independence."

Organizers say that participating scholars will "discuss the significance of the Declaration of Independence to Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War, emphasizing the impact of the Declaration on President Lincoln's perspective on liberty and slavery."

The event kicks off at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, September 29, with a keynote talk by historian Jon Meacham, whose books include "And There Was Light: Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle." The free evening will be at the Orton Center at the University of Redlands. Advanced registration is required.

The following day's symposium will feature five well-known scholars and speakers:

Yale University Law professor Akhil Reed Amar, author of Born Equal: Remaking America's Constitution, 1840-1920.

Yale historian Michael D. Hattem, a scholar of the American Revolution.

Jake Lundberg, in-house historian at The Atlantic.

Manisha Kumar Sinha of the University of Connecticut, author of The Rise and Fall of the Second American Republic: 1860-1920.

Ronald C. White: historian and author of A. Lincoln: A Biography and The Eloquent President: A Portrait of Lincoln Through His Words.

The symposium fee is $125, including lunch and a closing reception. Th event, which will run from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., will be held at the Orton Center on the University of Redlands campus.

More information, including how to sign up to attend, is available at lincolnshrine.org/america250.

As part of the 250th celebration, the Lincoln Memorial Shrine is hosting two special exhibits tracing American history from colonial days to Reconstruction and another about slavery.