Horace Greeley

 New Castle Historical Society (NCHS) to open major exhibition and to host lecture by Lincoln scholar Harold Holzer

On September 23, 2016, the New Castle Historical Society will open a new exhibition, Abraham Lincoln and Horace Greeley: Uncertain Allies. Illustrated with contemporary photographs, prints, cartoons, and documents, the exhibition traces the complex and sometimes tempestuous relationship between these important leaders during the era of the Civil War.

Abraham Lincoln and Horace Greeley had much in common. Both arose from poverty to achieve success through a combination of natural talent and personal effort: Greeley as a journalist who became the editor of the country’s most influential newspaper, Lincoln as a lawyer and politician who became President of the United States. Both shared many of the same aims and ideals, particularly their determination to preserve the Union, and to bring about the eventual end of slavery. But their very different personalities and temperaments often put them at odds. They became allies, but uncertain ones, who at once respected and exasperated each other.

Lincoln is justly celebrated for his leadership through the ordeal of the Civil War. But Greeley also made a significant contribution, through his support of Lincoln at certain crucial moments, and more importantly by his influence on Northern public opinion, which gradually shifted goals from simply defeating the Southern rebellion to achieving a “new birth of freedom” in a nation free of slavery.

The exhibition opening will take place at the Horace Greeley House (100 King St., Chappaqua, NY 10514) on Friday, September 23, from 6:00 to 9:00 P.M. Admission is free and open to all ages. Adults may enjoy complimentary wine and cheese to celebrate the opening.

In connection with the exhibition, the historical society and the Chappaqua Library will jointly host a lecture by renowned Lincoln historian Harold Holzer, recipient of the 2008 National Humanities Award and many other honors, and author of more than fifty books on Lincoln and the Civil War era. His talk is entitled “Old Abe and The Old Philosopher: The Long, Unhappy Alliance between Horace Greeley and Abraham Lincoln.”

As Mr. Holzer describes it: “From the time they first met—and failed to click—at a big 1848 River & Harbor Convention in Chicago, and as fellow Whig Congressman in Washington shortly thereafter, rising editor Horace Greeley and rising politician Abraham Lincoln “enjoyed” a rocky professional relationship that failed repeatedly to unite them as true friends but in time succeeded in changing the course of American history. During the ugliest of all their fights: the campaign for president in 1864, what should have been the closest of alliances ended in tatters.  But by the time Lincoln died, the Union had been preserved and slavery killed.  And each man could claim a share of credit.”

Mr. Holzer’s lecture will take place in the theater of the Chappaqua Library on Sunday afternoon, September 25, at 4:00 P.M. Refreshments will be served, and copies of Mr. Holzer’s books will be available for sale and signing, including his latest, Lincoln and the Power of the Press. The historical society exhibition will be open both before and after the lecture.

For more information, please call 914-238-4666 or email Cassie Ward at director@newcastlehs.org.

 

A Release from the New Castle Historical Society