Distinguished author to speak at the annual Lincoln Harman lecture series

James Gorman WASHBURN UNIVERSITY

Harold Holzer, a renowned historian, author and lecturer, will speak at the annual Lincoln Harman Lecture Series at 3 p.m. Feb. 21. “Lincoln and 150 Years of Fake News” is the title of the event, which will take place at the Bradbury Alumni Center. Holzer’s lecture will focus on the relationships between journalists and presidents in America’s past.

“We’ve heard the term ‘fake news’ more often, and more loudly, in the past two years than we did in the previous 200 years—but even so, I think it’s time to put presidential relationships with the press in fuller historical perspective,” Holzer said.

Holzer, whose study of Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War has contributed to 52 books, believes there are lessons to be learned from our past.

“I want to show that, discordant as the dialogue may seem today, the confrontational relationships between presidents and press have existed back to the days of Lincoln—and even George Washington,” he said.

According to the university’s website the lecture series was started in 1988 by Jerome Harman, a graduate of the Washburn School of Law, to “encourage individual and public interest in the ideals and integrity exemplified in the life of Abraham Lincoln.”