There will be a special panel discussion examining Lincoln, Labor, and Race on March 27, 2017 at the CUNY Graduate Center in New York City as part of the National Center’s March 26-28, 2017 annual conference.

“Labor is prior to and independent of capital.”  So Abraham Lincoln reminded Congress in 1861.  “Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher consideration.”  As a living symbol of American opportunity, Lincoln not only exemplified the “right to rise” from poverty and obscurity through hard work, but took advanced political positions on such issues as immigration, labor strikes, public education, and-of course-slavery.  This panel of historians will examine Lincoln’s lifelong but evolutionary belief in “free labor,” and the meaning of that commitment in his times and ours.

The panel will be composed of three distinguished Lincoln historians:

• Harold Holzer, Jonathan F. Fanton Director, Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute, Hunter College
• Edna Greene Medford, Chair, Howard University Department of History
• James Oakes, Distinguished Professor, CUNY Graduate Center
  

The panel discussion will take place on March 27, 2017 from 3:45 p.m.-5:15 p.m. Pre-registration is required because the session will be open to the public and seating is limited. The deadline for pre-registration is March 3, 2017.

The National Center thanks Harold Holzer for his assistance in organizing this important and exciting panel discussion.