A Road Scholar Program by Janet Cornelius

Perhaps none in the mid-Nineteenth Century understood the power of the written and spoken word as well as Abraham Lincoln, except for perhaps African American slaves. In this presentation, Janet Cornelius traces Lincoln’s struggle with education and compares that with slave experiences, some of whom risked torture and death in order to learn to read. Slaves also wanted to write because, as Frederick Douglass said, "to sign my name is to confirm my identity."

For more information, please contact Carole Petro, 708.748.4431 x26.