One of the exhibition's interactive games

Opening at the Freedom Center on October 17, 2008, Lincoln: The Constitution and the Civil War promises to be an exhibition that’s likely to hold appeal for everyone from school groups to Civil War history buffs and human rights scholars.

We went last week to take a preview look at the 2,500 square-foot exhibit, currently on display at the Truman Library and Museum in Independence, Missouri. The exhibit masterfully shows that Abraham Lincoln’s brief term as President was fraught with unparalleled challenges, any one of which would have overwhelmed even the most capable of leaders. That Lincoln was able — with sheer determination and incomparable vision — to steer a course that brought the nation through a bitter civil war, preserved the Constitution, and set in motion the abolition of slavery is one of history’s watershed accomplishments.

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October 17 - January 11, 2009

Third Floor Changing Exhibit Gallery

Created by the National Constitution Center, Lincoln: The Constitution and the Civil War shows how Lincoln’s monumental struggle to save the Union transformed the nation and its Constitution.  The exhibit addresses the three principal constitutional crises of Lincoln’s presidency - the dissolution of the Union, slavery, and the suppression of civil liberties during wartime - and prompts visitors to examine current challenges to constitutional liberties.