Loading...Looking for Lincoln
Special Collection
Looking for Lincoln explores the life and legacy of the man widely considered one of our best and most enigmatic presidents. The PBS series, presented and written by Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (African American Lives, Oprah’s Roots), addresses many of the controversies surrounding Lincoln – race, equality, religion, politics, and depression – by carefully interpreting evidence from those who knew him and those who study him today.
Funding for this collection was provided by the Booth Ferris foundation.
| RESOURCE | GRADE LEVEL | MEDIA TYPE |
|---|---|---|
Abraham Lincoln's WordsIn this video excerpted from the PBS series Looking for Lincoln, Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. cites several examples of Lincoln’s use of “seemingly simple but profoundly eloquent language to express and ennoble his cause.” |
4-12 |
Video |
Abraham Lincoln, Attorney at LawThis video segment, excerpted from the PBS series Looking for Lincoln, explores Lincoln’s years as a "prairie" lawyer.
|
1-12 |
Video |
All Things LincolnThis video segment, excerpted from the PBS series Looking for Lincoln, explores the ongoing cultural fascination with physical artifacts of Abraham Lincoln’s life. |
1-12 |
Video |
Bush on LincolnIn this video from the PBS series Looking for Lincoln, Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. interviews former president George W. Bush about Abraham Lincoln and the controversial choices they both faced as wartime leaders.
|
9-12 |
Video |
Lincoln's Early ViewsIn this video segment from the PBS series Looking for Lincoln, historians Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and David Blight shed light on the more complicated historical reality behind the romanticized myth of Abraham Lincoln as the morally unassailable “Great Emancipator” of the slaves.
|
5-12 |
Video |
Lincoln's Growth and Change
In this video from the PBS series Looking for Lincoln, Henry Louis Gates, Jr. speculates on how different American history might have been had Lincoln lived, and tributes to Lincoln’s enduring legacy culminate in the hope and spectacle of Barack Obama’s 2008 inauguration.
|
5-12 |
Video |
Looking for Lincoln During the Civil WarThis lesson explores the unique challenges Lincoln faced during the five years of bloody civil war which made him America’s ultimate but most controversial wartime leader. |
9-12 |
Lesson Plan |
Looking for Lincoln Through his WordsIn this lesson from Looking for Lincoln students explore how Abraham Lincoln used the power of words in speeches, letters and other documents. |
4-5 |
Lesson Plan |
Looking for Lincoln Throughout His LifeIn this interdisciplinary lesson, students gather different facts about Lincoln through a variety of hands-on activities. |
1-3 |
Lesson Plan |
Looking for Lincoln Views on SlaveryStudents examine Abraham Lincoln’s views on slavery and race in this lesson based on the PBS series Looking for Lincoln. |
5-8 |
Lesson Plan |
Proving Ground
In this video from the PBS series Looking for Lincoln, Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. interviews historian Allan Guelzo about the unprecedented scale of the Civil War and President Lincoln’s own personal attitude toward the Confederacy.
|
9-12 |
Video |
Quoting Abraham Lincoln
In this video excerpted from the PBS series Looking for Lincoln, Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. samples instances of today’s politicians quoting Lincoln in their speeches.
|
4-12 |
Video |
The Civil War and Abolition
This video from the PBS series Looking for Lincoln examines how the unprecedented slaughter of the Civil War compelled President Abraham Lincoln to expand and elevate the justification of the war from the political ideal of union to the moral imperative of abolition. |
9-12 |
Video |
The Gettysburg Address
In this video segment excerpted from the PBS series Looking for Lincoln, Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and President Bill Clinton examine the context and content of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address.
|
4-12 |
Video |
The Road to Emancipation
In this video from the PBS series Looking for Lincoln, Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and historian David Blight examine how strategic calculations informed President Abraham Lincoln’s decision to issue the Emancipation Proclamation at least as much as any higher sense of moral imperative.
|
5-12 |
Video |
Was Lincoln a White Supremacist?
In this video from the PBS series Looking for Lincoln, Henry Louis Gates, Jr. investigates Abraham Lincoln’s mixed legacy among African Americans, many of whom have grown disillusioned with the myth of a “Great Emancipator” who in fact spoke often and openly about his own inability to accept that blacks were equal to whites.
|
5-12 |
Video |
