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This Friday At The WT Young Library, It's All About Mary

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The University of Kentucky History Department and the Mary Todd Lincoln House in Lexington are teaming up for a scholarly examination of the former First Lady who turns 200 this year. 

"Mary Todd Lincoln is referenced in pop culture all the time," explained Mary Todd Lincoln House Executive Director Gwen Thompson. "Everything from televsion to movies, to Saturday Night Live, and a lot of times she's used as sort of a joke or as a foil for Abraham Lincoln," Thompson told WUKY. 

So the goal of of the day-long symposium is to separate truth from myth surrounding one of the more misunderstood figures in American History;  "to really put the focus on her and to talk about her and examine her life in the context of her times in a thoughtful way is important." Thompson said.

Guest speakers include Catherine Clinton, author of Mrs. Lincoln: A Life, Jennifer Fleischner, author of Mrs. Lincoln and Mrs. Keckly: The Remarkable Story of the Friendship Between a First Lady and a Former Slave, and Angela Esco Elder, Assistant Professor of History at Converse College in Spartanburg, South Carolina. Her dissertation exploring Confederate widowhood won the Southern Historical Association’s Dissertation Prize in Southern History in 2017. 

The event takes place from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the WT Young Library.  It’s free and open to the public.

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