Asheville News

Marking Lincoln’s 200th and Sandburg’s epic

Jason Sandford December 28, 2008

Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

There will be big celebrations around the U.S. this year in celebration of President Abraham Lincoln’s 200th birthday, including special events at the Carl Sandburg home in Flat Rock.

Sandburg wrote a Pulitzer Prize-winning biography of one of our country’s most famous leaders. Abraham Lincoln: The Prairie Years and The War Years were published in 1926 (two volumes of The Prairie Years) and 1939 (four volumes of The War Years). The work has been largely criticized for its factual errors and for Sandburg’s light use of documented sources. Others find it filled with poetic ramblings.

But the work had a profound impact. And as this essay notes, “Probably more Americans have learned their Lincoln from Sandburg than from any other source.”

So we’ll celebrate Sandburg and Lincoln and a remarkable bicentennial.

Links

-All about the Lincoln Bicentennial

–Illinois Bicentennial Commission

-Washington, D.C., with hold a four-month city-wide celebration

-USA Today’s Lincoln birthday celebration round-up

Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

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2 Comments

Tammy Silver December 29, 2008

Buncombe County Public Libraries have many copies of Sandburg’s Lincoln available, along with a wide assortment of other Sandburg books. Our catalog is online at:

http://librarycatalog.abls.lib.nc.us/uhtbin/cgisirsi.exe/x/x/0/49

If you don’t see a particular book you’re interested in, email me and let me know at [email protected], or go into any library and ask. We love to know what people want to read.

Also, in September, Pack Library will be hosting an ALA exhibit on Lincoln called "Forever Free: Abraham Lincoln’s Journey to Emancipation." The libraries and the Center for Diversity Education will be planning a lot of Lincoln programs for adults and kids around that exhibit.

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anon December 29, 2008

So how come Asheville’s esteemed library system has no copies of Sandburg’s work?

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