Month: February 2009

LEXINGTON, Ky—Presidential historian Richard Norton Smith extolled the moral vision and political accomplishments of Abraham Lincoln in his Kenan Lecture presentation in Haggin Auditorium at Transylvania University on Monday, February 16. “Abraham Lincoln put principle above popularity and became the greatest communicator and politician ever to inhabit the White House,” Smith told his large and appreciative audience. “He led America through its great passion play, the Civil War. I believe he is the President against whom all others must be measured.” Smith is a presidential historian and scholar in residence at George Mason University and is known to millions through his roles as the ABC News presidential historian and as a political analyst for PBS. His speech was part of of Transylvania’s celebration of the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial.   Smith said it was Lincoln’s ability to grow intellectually and morally throughout his lifetime that allowed him to confront the critical moral issue of his time, slavery. “He came to understand that it was hypocritical for a nation conceived in liberty to keep millions in slavery,” Smith said. Countering the prevailing notion that colonization of African Americans to foreign lands was the solution, “Lincoln concluded that a bi-racial America was possible. He outgrew the racist society that produced him.” Smith chose his title, “Our Lincoln,” to suggest that many people see themselves in Lincoln’s struggles to rise from an impoverished and uneducated background to realize his dreams and ambitions through hard

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LEXINGTON, Ky.—Today at 4 p.m. Transylvania University is marking the 200th anniversary of the birth of biologist Charles Darwin with a campus-wide celebration, including a birthday cake and a group discussion. Biology professor and Darwin scholar James Wagner made the cake in the shape of a tortoise to focus attention on the eco-systems of the Galapagos Islands, where Darwin did much of his work. The discussion, led by Wagner and fellow biology professors Belinda Sly and Sarah Bray, will address public misconception of the theory of evolution by critiquing elements of Ben Stein’s controversial 2008 documentary Expelled. The celebration will take place in Strickland Auditorium of the Brown Science Center and is sponsored by the Biology Club. In addition to the bicentennial of Darwin’s birth (February 12, 1809), 2009 marks the sesquicentennial of the publication of his most recognized work, On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life  (November 24, 1859) of which Transylvania has a rare first edition copy. Although Darwin is often associated with only this book, he was in fact a very prolific writer, authoring over 22 books covering a variety of biological topics. Many are represented with first edition copies in Transylvania’s Special Collections’ Thomas Collection, a rare and diverse collection of writings by one of the nineteenth century’s innovative and original thinkers.

LEXINGTON, Ky.—As the nation celebrates the bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln’s February 12, 1809, birth in Hardin County, Ky., the many connections between Transylvania University and the 16th President are worth recalling for how they illuminate the prominent roles in Lincoln’s personal and political lives that were played by alumni and others associated with this historic college. Among those connections are the role of political hero to Lincoln played by the famed statesman Henry Clay, a former Transylvania professor and trustee; the legal acumen Lincoln relied upon when he appointed Transylvania graduates Samuel Freeman Miller to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1862 and James Speed as U.S. Attorney General in 1864; and the diplomatic skills provided by alumnus Cassius Clay, named Minister to Russia by Lincoln in 1861. In his personal and family life, Lincoln returned to his native Kentucky to wed Mary Todd of Lexington, whose family included several Transylvanians, beginning with her father, Robert S. Todd, who entered Transylvania at age 14. The Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial is being celebrated throughout 2008 and 2009. As Transylvania takes part in that celebration, it harkens back to its history in the middle decades of the 19th century, a time when the University enjoyed a national prominence that coincided with Lincoln’s rise to the presidency. Transylvania was a fertile breeding ground for leaders in many areas of society during those years, and Lincoln called upon that expertise as he led the nation through

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