Calvert Library to be Overrun with Confederate Soldiers (press release)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

Contact:  Robyn Truslow

410-535-0291

 

            Calvert County will soon be overrun with Confederate soldiers!  With the Calvert Library exhibit Lincoln:  The Constitution and the Civil War beginning on Thursday, July 12 and running through August 24, Calvert County can expect to experience many facets of this time period.  The Opening Weekend on Saturday, July 14 will bring the Federal City Brass Band in full uniform with period instruments to perform music of the time as well as share a historical narrative.  The library will also host the man many people describe as “Abraham Lincoln reincarnated,” Jim Getty.  Getty is frequently the face and voice of Lincoln and is the nation’s leading Lincoln impersonator.  In the persona of Lincoln, Getty will do two presentations at the library.  The first will be for the younger crowd (ages 5-13) at 11:30am and at 2:00pm he will perform for ages 13 and up answering sophisticated questions about Lincoln’s decisions and life.  He will talk about why he believed in the Constitutionality of his decisions to suspend various civil liberties and be open to questions.  For those interested in really diving into the challenging questions that Lincoln faced, join Dr. Chretien Guidry from the College of Southern Maryland at 3:30pm as he moderates a discussion using the online interactive game Lincoln’s Crossroads.   What would have happened if Lincoln had chosen differently?

            Throughout the day, librarians will have period activities for kids to try out such as creating a yarn doll or a ball-and-cup.  They will also be able to try out some Civil War era games like draughts (checkers), Hide and Seek the hidden object (you are getting warmer, warmer…),  and more.  Interested in finding out what “hard tack” is?  There will be period recipes that kids can take home to try out.

            And of course, there is the exhibit itself.  The National Constitution Center and the American Library Association Public Programs Office organized the exhibit with the help of a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH): Great Ideas Brought to Life. The traveling exhibition is based on an exhibition of the same name developed by the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia.  This traveling version explores Lincoln’s struggle to resolve the basic questions that divided Americans at the most perilous moment in the nation’s history: Was the United States truly one nation, or was it a confederacy of sovereign and separate states?  How could a country founded on the belief that “all men are created equal” tolerate slavery?  In a national crisis, would civil liberties be secure?  President Lincoln used the Constitution to confront the secession of Southern states, slavery and wartime civil liberties. Lincoln’s decisions about these three intertwined crises of war reinvented the Constitution and the promise of American life. This exhibition develops a more complete understanding of Abraham Lincoln as president and the Civil War as the nation’s gravest constitutional crisis.

The events hosted during the exhibit are sponsored by Friends of Calvert Library and the Maryland Humanities Council, and supported by American Library Association, Calvert County Economic Development, College of Southern Maryland, Calvert Historical Society, National Archives and Records Administration, Calvert County Board of Education, Surratt House, Jefferson Patterson Parks & Museums, Maryland Public Television, and many dedicated community volunteers.  According to Robyn Truslow, Public Relations Coordinator for Calvert Library, “The enthusiasm we have seen from our partners and from some incredible individuals has been awe-inspiring.  I won’t even try to mention them by name as I will undoubtedly leave someone out who has contributed hours worth of volunteer work!  Suffice it to say, you must honor them with your presence at these events they have put together.  If you miss them, you will be sorely disappointed when you hear the expected raves later.”

For more information about the complete schedule of events over the six weeks of the exhibit go to http://calvert.lib.md.us/lincoln.html  or call Robyn Truslow at 410-535-0291.

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Robyn Truslow

Public Relations Coordinator

Calvert Library

850 Costley Way

Prince Frederick, MD  20678

phone:  410-535-0291 or 301-855-1862

fax:  410-535-3022

rtruslow@somd.lib.md.us