Don't Miss Panel 2 at the ALI Symposium

by David J. Kent

Washington, DC

Saturday, March 7, 2026

The annual Abraham Lincoln Institute (ALI) Symposium will be held at Ford's Theatre on March 21, 2026, and the very special program is not to be missed. This is the second of a series of posts highlighting the upcoming symposium.

The ALI Symposium this year will have four panels featuring some of the most preeminent scholars on their topics in a discussion moderated by a renowned journalist. Each panel has a theme related to the overall theme: "Abraham Lincoln, the Declaration of Independence, and the State of Civic Life Today."

The second panel is entitled "Lincoln and the Declaration's Promise of Equality" and will examine Lincoln's understanding of the nation's founding. The award-winning panel features:

Akhil Reed Amar of Yale Law School, whose most recent book, Born Equal: Remaking America's Constitution, 1840-1920 will be awarded the prestigious ALI Book Award at the Symposium. Amar is a renowned constitutional scholar who clerked for Judge (later Justice) Stephen Breyer before becoming a professor at Yale Law School. Born Equal is the second of a planned trilogy that started with The Words That Made Us: America's Constitutional Conversation. He has won many awards, including most recently the 2024 Barry Prize.

Lucas Morel is a professor at Washington and Lee University and author of many books, including Lincoln and the American Founding and Measuring the Man: The Writings of Frederick Douglass on Abraham Lincoln. He recently received the prestigious ACS Mellon Academic Leadership Fellowship and is a member of the U.S. Semiquincentennial Commission spearheading the celebration of the Declaration of Independence's 250th anniversary.

Jeffrey Rosen, CEO Emeritus of the National Constitution Center will moderate the panel. He is currently a professor at the George Washington University Law School. His most recent book is Pursuit of Liberty: How Hamilton vs. Jefferson Ignited the Lasting Battle over Power in America.

The Lincoln Group of DC is co-sponsoring the symposium. More information can be found on the ALI website. The Symposium is FREE but requires advance registration on the Ford's Theatre website to ensure seating.