For our second “Session of the Week” from the Program of the 125th Annual Meeting we turn to AHA session 265, No Sacred Story: Reframing Abraham Lincoln in Historical Memory, a unique look at Abraham Lincoln in a variety of contexts.

Leslie J. Lindenauer and Martha E. May* look to recent use of Lincoln in “video games, the web, and in film” and how he’s often represented as “one bad ass dude.” Christopher Castiglia’s presentation will delve into Lincoln’s sexuality and what its “significance might be for our understanding of nineteenth-century culture and politics.” David A. Silkenat explores Works Progress Administration (WPA) narratives to investigate “divisions among African Americans about the long legacy of the Civil War and emancipation.” W. Fitzhugh Brundage will chair the session and David W. Blight will conclude the session with his comments.

See the complete session info below, and click the links for more information on each paper that will be presented.

No Sacred Story: Reframing Abraham Lincoln in Historical Memory
Sunday, January 9, 2011: 11:00 AM-1:00 PM
Room 103 (Hynes Convention Center)

Chair: W. Fitzhugh Brundage, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Papers: "Man Up, Lincoln": Gender and Image in Civic Life
Leslie J. Lindenauer, Western Connecticut State University;
Martha E. May, Western Connecticut State University

Was Abraham Lincoln Gay? A History of Intense Identifications
Christopher Castiglia, Pennsylvania State University

"Serving the Lord and Abe Lincoln’s Spirit”: Lincoln and Memory in the WPA Narratives
David A. Silkenat, North Dakota State University

Comment: David W. Blight, Yale University

*In the initial version of this blog post we left off Martha E. May’s name in the explanatory paragraph. We apologize for this lapse.

This post first appeared on AHA Today.