160 years after the assassination of former President Abraham Lincoln, Mississippi State University Libraries will offer the public an opportunity to step back in time and experience one of the most shocking events in U.S. history.
Hosted by the Williams Collection of Lincolniana archivist Kaelynn Edmondson and Susannah J. Ural, the Frank and Virginia Williams Chair for Abraham Lincoln and Civil War Studies and history professor, the April 14 program will feature a lecture and an exclusive guided tour of its newly curated Lincoln assassination exhibit. Event planners are hoping to illuminate the facts and myths surrounding the nation’s first presidential assassination.
“Lincoln’s murder shocked the nation just as the Civil War was coming to an end,” Ural said. “This event offers an opportunity to better understand the tragedy, how Americans responded, and its lasting impact on our country.”
Per a release from Mississippi State, Ural’s lecture, “Our Great Loss: The Lincoln Assassination,” will take attendees beyond the textbook version of events, unraveling the myths and mysteries that have endured since the 16th president’s death.
Featuring rare artifacts from the Williams Collection, the exhibit brings to life the way Americans first learned of Lincoln’s murder, the gripping investigation, the dramatic trial, and the execution of the accused conspirators. Visitors also will learn how a grieving nation mourned what one contemporary called “Our Great Loss.”
The program is designed for university faculty, staff, students, and the public, welcoming anyone curious about history, especially because many are unaware of what actually happened regarding the assassination.
“Not many people know that the original plot was to kidnap him, that Booth was a Southern sympathizer or that President Lincoln did not die immediately from the attack,” Edmondson said. “Lincoln events like this lecture and exhibit unveiling are important for communities to not only learn more about events in U.S. history but also see artifacts that can connect them to the past.”
Mississippi State has become known nationally as one of the leading research sites for the study of the Civil War and Reconstruction eras since the Grant Library opening and the Williams Collection donation in 2017. That year, Frank and Virginia Williams gifted their collection of Abraham Lincoln and Civil War memorabilia to the university. Valued at nearly $3 million, it is considered the nation’s largest privately owned holding of Lincoln research and display material.
The university is also home to the Ulysses S. Grant Presidential Library and Museum and is one of only six institutions of higher learning in the nation to house a presidential library.
