We welcome all HBASNY members, friends and guests to attend an early Friday evening of networking and a private tour of the New York Historical Society's newest exhibition on President Abraham Lincoln. The private tour of the gallery, led by a member of the New York Historical Society, will be followed by a private reception featuring complimentary stationed appetizers and wine.  The total cost for this event is $25. 

 

About the Exhibition:

 

This exhibition of original artifacts, iconic images, and hand-written period documents, many in Lincoln's own hand, will for the first time fully trace the evolution of Lincoln's relationship with the nation's largest and wealthiest state, New York.  Lincoln's evolving stance on slavery issues alternately pleased and infuriated New Yorkers. African-Americans, many of them veterans of the anti-slavery movement and Underground Railroad activism, saw Lincoln as slow to deal with the numerous slaves escaping during the war. These "contraband" forces clamored to join the Union army which for several years excluded colored troops – be they free men or the newly freed. Meanwhile free black New Yorkers readied volunteer regiments.