Lincoln Scholar Speaks Sept. 7

What:
Abraham Lincoln and civil war expert Ronald D. Rietveld, Cal State Fullerton emeritus professor of history, will speak Sept. 7 on “Lincoln’s California Ally: The Golden State and the Civil War.” The free lecture is open to the public.

When:
Wednesday, Sept. 7
4-7 p.m.

Where:
Fullerton Arboretum, 1900 Associated Road, Fullerton

Who:
Rietveld, a member of the History Advisory and Content Team for the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, Ill., argues that California, which had no direct involvement in the Civil War, greatly aided the Union’s defeat of the Confederacy. It did so by providing manpower for volunteer regiments, sending gold east, replacing regular forces in territories of the Western U.S., establishing camps and fortifications, suppressing secessionist and Confederate activities within California and securing the New Mexico territory against the Confederacy. As for President Lincoln, he enjoyed a friendship for the land beyond the Sierra Mountains, Rietveld says. He told an old Illinois friend that he had “long desired to see California” for various reasons, but especially because of “her stand for the Union.”

Sponsor:
The free lecture is one of several sponsored by the university’s Center for Oral and Public History as part of “New Birth of Freedom: Civil War to Civil Rights in California,” a free, public exhibit at the Fullerton Arboretum’s Orange County Agricultural and Nikkei Heritage Museum.

Info:
More information is available at 657-278-3407.

Media Contact:
Mimi Ko Cruz, Public Affairs, 657-278-7586 or mkocruz@fullerton.edu