Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/56382
Annual Spring SymposiumFocuses on "EMANCIPATION DURING THE CIVIL WAR" The 2011 spring symposium, held in the Dirksen SenateOffice Building and the Capitol Visitor Center Congressional Audito- rium, examined emancipaon during the CivilWar. Gary Gallagher of the University of Virginia (right, facing camera) delivered the first keynote address on Thursday evening,May 5. His discussion of the Unionmilitary's role in emancipaon engendered quesons fromaudiencemembers (le; note the C-SPAN camera in the background), connued discussions during the recepon that followed, and references sprinkled throughout the talks the next day. Disnguished speakers took the stage during the day on May 6. Two keynote speakers opened and closed the proceedings: John Stauffer of Harvard University began the daywith "The Process andMeaning of Emancipaon during theWar,"which included a discussion of black soldiers fighng on both sides,while Seymour Drescher of the University of Pisburgh concluded the conference by taking the conversaon global. He compared theway other countries, such as France and England, handled emancipa- on and its effects. JOHN STAUFFER SEYMOUR DRESCHER Michael Burlingame (above, University of Illinois at Springfield) drewon his extensive research into Abraham Lincoln's life to argue that Lincoln had long opposed slavery andwas therefore not a "reluctant emancipator." Diane Barnes,who iswith Youngstown State University and the Frederick Douglass Papers, examined the role played by Douglass and his relaonshipwith Lincoln in the president's decision to issue the Emancipaon Proclamaon. 30 THE CAPITOL DOME KateMasur (right) and Beverly Palmer considered emancipaon in relaonship to the District of Columbia fromtwo different angles.Masur, fromNorth- western University, considered the impact of emancipaon in the District, which came ninemonths earlier than the Emancipaon Proclamaon. Palmer (Pomona College and editor of the Charles Sumner Correspondence and Thaddeus Stevens Papers), on the other hand, considered the impact an-slavery congressmen Sumner and Stevens had on Lincoln's acons. For eight years now, Paul Finkelman (Albany Law School) has directed this symposiumseries, "The Naonal Capital in a Naon Divided: Congress and the District of Columbia Confront Seconalismand Slavery,"with Donald Kennon, USCHS Vice President for Scholarship and Educaon. This year, he also presented a separate talk on the constuonality of emancipaon. Finkelmanwill return for severalmore years as symposiumdirector. WINTER 2012