Dr. Carl Moneyhon, professor of history in UALR’s College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, will present the Central Arkansas Library System’s (CALS) 2010 Dishongh Distinguished Lecture at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 9.  His topic: “Abraham Lincoln, the Constitution, and Public Opinion.”

Moneyhon’s lecture will compliment “Lincoln: The Constitution and the Civil War,” a traveling exhibition which opened at the CALS Main Library on Wednesday, Dec. 1. The professor is a specialist in the history of the American Civil War and the South and is widely published in the field.

The lecture and reception at the Main Library’s Darragh Center at 100 Rock St., is free and open to the public. To RSVP, contact mmurray@cals.org or 501-918-3032.

Moneyhon’s work has been supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities, and he recently received one of the first College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences Summer Fellowships for Research. Moneyhon is a Fellow of the Texas Historical Association. He is working on a book on the connection of war-time experience and developed identity among Confederate soldiers.

The Lincoln exhibit at CALS examines how the 16th President used the Constitution to confront three intertwined crises of the Civil War — the secession of Southern states, slavery, and wartime civil liberties.

The National Constitution Center and the American Library Association Public Programs Office organized the traveling exhibition, which was made possible by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). The traveling exhibition is based on an exhibition of the same name developed by the National Constitution Center and currently touring the United States.

The traveling exhibition is composed of informative panels featuring photographic reproductions of original documents, including a draft of Lincoln’s first inaugural speech, the Emancipation Proclamation, and the 13th Amendment.

Moneyhon’s lecture is made possible by the Elizabeth Fletcher Dishongh Trust, established by CALS in 1997 to fund various library activities and distinguished lectures that are of interest to the general public.

For more information CALS and the lecture, contact Susan Hill Gelé at 501-918-3086.