A renowned Abraham Lincoln scholar will dispel 10 common misconceptions about the former president in an event hosted by the history department Tuesday night.
Associate Professor Steven Woodworth said speaker Allen Guelzo’s talk is titled “Ten Lies about Lincoln,” and it will take place at 7 p.m. in Palko Hall.
Guelzo is the leading scholar on Lincoln and one of the nation’s top scholars on the Civil War, Woodworth said.
The event will happen within a week of the 150th anniversary of Lincoln’s election to the presidency in 1860, but it is only a coincidence.
“You’re more likely to see him on C-SPAN or the History Channel than you are to get him to your campus because he’s very much in demand,” he said. “So this is the time we just happened to be able to get him.”
Woodworth said the history department had been working on bringing Guelzo to campus since last spring. The university collaborated with both the Fort Worth and Dallas Civil War Round Table groups to help cover the cost of bringing Guelzo to campus. Civil War Round Tables are groups formed of people with interest in the Civil War, and they often host speakers for their members.
President of the Fort Worth Civil War Round Table Jim Rosenthal said that both Civil War Round Table groups were paying Guelzo’s travel expenses and that the university was helping to pay the honorarium, or the fee that many scholars charge when they speak.
Rosenthal said that although the university had helped the Fort Worth Civil War Round Table with events in the past, this was the first time they had formally collaborated.
Pax Glenn, president of the Civil War Round Table of Dallas, said he hoped to start collaborating annually with the university to bring speakers to North Texas.
Woodworth said he was excited to hear Guelzo speak but also was excited for the opportunities Guelzo’s appearance will afford students.
“It’s exciting for me that our students will have an opportunity to hear him speak. He’s an excellent speaker, he makes history very interesting, I think,” he said. “I’m excited that our graduate students will get to talk to him [and] interact with a scholar of his caliber.”
Rosenthal said the event will be free and open to anyone, including students, members of the Civil War Round Table and interested community members.