Lincoln Bicentennial Events in North Dakota - 2008

Grand opening of the Lincoln's Legacy in North Dakota exhibit at the North Dakota Heritage Center, Bismarck, produced by the State Historical Society of North Dakota (SHSND). The SHSND is working with the National Archives about the possibility of featuring the Homestead Act document signed by President Lincoln in 1862 as part of the exhibit.

“Lincoln, Land, and Liberty”
The North Dakota Humanities Council (NDHC) celebrates its 35th anniversary with a benefit dinner and an evening presentation of the Everett Albers Chautauqua Program, “Lincoln, Land, and Liberty,” in Bismarck.

NDHC Chautauqua “Lincoln, Land, and Liberty,” with living history reenactors portraying Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass and Walt Whitman (site TBD).

NDHC Chautauqua “Lincoln, Land, and Liberty,” with living history reenactors portraying Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass and Walt Whitman(site TBD).

NDHC Chautauqua “Lincoln, Land, and Liberty,” with living history reenactors portraying Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass and Walt Whitman(site TBD).

Premier of the documentary film, Lincoln and the Homestead Act on Prairie Public Television, in partnership with the SHSND, the NDHC and the North Dakota Council on the Arts (NDCA).

Dr. James McPherson lectureFargo Theater, 7 p.m. (for later broadcast on Prairie Public Television); afternoon seminar with history students from North Dakota State University, Concordia College, and Minnesota State University-Moorhead, to be broadcast on Prairie Public, sponsored by the Read North Dakota program (www.readnd.org). McPherson, a Pulitzer Prize-winning Civil War author, is a native of Valley City, North Dakota. Read North Dakota is a consortium of members, including the SHSND, the NDHC, the NDCA, Prairie Public Broadcasting, and the North Dakota Library Association, dedicated to celebrating and promoting literature connected with North Dakota.

Lincoln Symposium in Fargo, sponsored by the NDHC and other partners to be determined.

20th Annual Governor's Conference on North Dakota History, sponsored by the SHSND at the North Dakota Heritage Center. The theme will be Lincoln Legacy: The Homestead Act. This will be the second part of a two-part theme for the state history conference – part one, Lincoln Legacy: The Railroad, was held November 2-3, 2007.

Abraham Lincoln Fun Facts on Cass-Clay Creamery milk cartons.

North Dakota Council on the Arts sponsoring Shakespeare residencies in rural schools through the Northern Prairie Performing Arts Troupe from the Fargo Community Theatre (Spring 2008).

NDCA sponsorship of performances by area symphonies of an original composition by former Fargo, North Dakota, resident Peter Schickele, commissioned for the Lincoln Bicentennial (tentative).

Battle Cry of Freedom, the Pulitzer Prize-winning book by Dr. James McPherson, featured in the North Dakota Reads book discussion list of nonfiction titles; other Lincoln-related material.

The Legislative Leadership of the 2007
The Legislative Assembly appointed a committee to plan an appropriate program to mark the actual 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s birth on Thursday, February 12, 2009, to take place that day during the 2009 Legislative Assembly. The members, representing each chamber and each party, are: Senator Tony Grindberg, chairman of the committee (R-Fargo); Senator Carolyn Nelson (D-Fargo); Representative Nancy Johnson (R-Dickinson); and Representative Ed Gruchalla (D-Fargo). This is a committee to plan only for the February 12, 2009 event at the Legislative Assembly, and will work closely with staff from the State Historical Society of North Dakota, the North Dakota Council on the Arts and the North Dakota Humanities Council and others in planning the event for that day.