CCU Named one of Forty Sites Nationwide to Host Upcoming Abraham Lincoln Exhibition
Colorado Christian University will mark the month of February as host to the national traveling exhibition, "Abraham Lincoln: A Man of His Time, a Man for All Times." CCU is one of only forty sites nationwide to host the exhibition, which celebrates America's history and commemorates Lincoln's bicentennial birth anniversary. The exhibit is free and open to the public, and will be at CCU February 9-25, 2009.
"CCU is honored to have been selected as a site to help educate others on one of America's great presidents," says University President Bill Armstrong. "The exhibit is especially significant given Lincoln's legacy as a unifier during a period of great division in our nation's history."
Developed by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History and funded through a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Lincoln exhibition at CCU will be accompanied by a series of special events including:
- Grand opening ceremony with Abraham Lincoln reenactor John Voehl: February 9
- Presentation by Colorado state historian, Bill Convery, on Lincoln's importance to Colorado: February 12
- Lincoln Scholar lecture by Dr. Ron Rietveld, professor of history at California State University-Fullerton and advisor to the U.S. Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission: February 16
- CCU Wind Ensemble performance of Aaron Copland's "Lincoln Portrait," with excerpts from Lincoln's writings narrated by CCU President Bill Armstrong: February 16
- Presentation by Wendell Pryor, Colorado liaison to the U.S. Lincoln Bicentennial Planning Commission, on Lincoln and postmodern civil rights: February 23
"It seems appropriate to complement the exhibition with Copland's orchestral interpretation of Lincoln's legacy, adapted for symphonic band," says CCU Associate Professor of Music Mark Dorn, director of the University's Wind Ensemble. "This piece is unique in that it combines music and Lincoln's own words to create an artistic, historic experience for audiences."