The 16th president of the United States – or at least someone who looks a lot like him – will make a special stop at the Cranberry Public Library on Friday, August 8, between 6:00 and 8:00 PM. He will be accompanied by singer Jan-Raye Gardner performing songs of the Civil War era. Light refreshments will be provided for all those attending.
The event – actually the opening reception for a unique traveling exhibit, “Forever Free: Abraham Lincoln’s Journey to Emancipation” – is free of charge. The exhibit itself will remain on display in the Library meeting room through September 19. It focuses on Lincoln’s quest to restore a Union divided by Civil War. A series of ten other events scheduled in conjunction with the Lincoln exhibit will be held in and around the Municipal Center during the time the display remains in Cranberry.
Organized by the Huntington Library, San Marino, Ca. and the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, New York City, in cooperation with American Library Association, the exhibit shows how Lincoln’s beliefs about freeing slaves were transformed by wartime developments.
“Forever Free” is made possible by major grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission, created by Congress and charged with planning the national celebration of Lincoln’s 200th birthday. The Cranberry Library is one of just 63 libraries nationwide which were chosen to host the exhibit.