Gettysburg College will join community partners in commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation with events throughout Gettysburg Sept. 20-22.

A highlight will be the Sept. 21’s “Forever Free: An Evening with Princeton University Professor Emeritus James McPherson and Allen Guelzo, Henry R. Luce Professor of Civil War Era Studies at Gettysburg College,” (pictured below, McPherson at left) which includes a conversation about the Proclamation. The event will begin at 8 p.m. at Gettysburg College’s Majestic Theater, 25 Carlisle St. Free tickets are recommended and can be obtained at the box office, by calling 717-337-8200, or at gettysburgmajestic.org.

Other Emancipation Proclamation Weekend events include:

Art Exhibition “Visualizing War” – Gallery Talk with Andrew Egbert
Gettysburg College’s Schmucker Art Gallery
Sept. 20, noon

Pennsylvania Civil War Road Show
A traveling exhibition housed in an expandable 53-foot tractor-trailer created for Pennsylvania residents and visitors of all ages
Gettysburg College Campus
Sept. 21-23, 11 a.m. - 7 p.m.

"Road to Freedom: Lincoln, the Emancipation Proclamation and the End of Slavery"
Exhibit including items such as an Abraham Lincoln-signed Emancipation Proclamation and copy of the Thirteenth Amendment
Gettysburg National Military Park and Visitor Center, 1195 Baltimore Pike
Opens Sept. 21, 8 a.m.

“Rebelling for the Promise of Revolution: Black Emancipation and the Civil War” Lecture by Gettysburg College Prof. Scott Hancock
(pictured at right)
Gettysburg National Military Park Visitor Center, 1195 Baltimore Pike
Sept. 22, 5 p.m.
Hosted by the Gettysburg Foundation and Gettysburg National Military Park

“Glory”
Movie starring Denzel Washington, Morgan Freeman, and Matthew Broderick Gettysburg College’s Majestic Theater, 25 Carlisle St.
Sept. 22, 8 p.m.

Gettysburg Community Day
Sponsored by Main Street Gettysburg and its partners: Trolley rides including tour guides and preview tours of the Seminary Ridge Museum will be available
Gettysburg Transit Center, 103 Carlisle Street
Sept. 23, 1-5 p.m.

These events are part of Gettysburg College’s American Civil War Sesquicentennial commemoration. The College will sponsor events and programs throughout the anniversary that runs from 2011-2015 with special focus on 2013, which marks the 150th anniversary of the enactment of the Emancipation Proclamation, the Battle of Gettysburg, and President Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. For more information, visit www.gettysburg.edu/cw2013 and www.gettysburgcivilwar150.com.

Gettysburg College (then known as Pennsylvania College) played a vital role in the Civil War, with more than 200 alumni serving theUnion or Confederacy, and the College’s Pennsylvania Hall functioning as an observation post and hospital during the Battle of Gettysburg. On Nov. 19, 1863, College students and faculty processed to hear Lincoln deliver the Gettysburg Address at the Gettysburg National Cemetery. Earlier in the year, an 1851 graduate of the College, prominent attorney David Wills, had invited Lincoln to deliver “a few appropriate remarks” at the cemetery’s dedication. Lincoln stayed with the Wills family on the square the night before delivering his famous speech.

Founded in 1832, Gettysburg College is a highly selective four-year residential college of liberal arts and sciences with a strong academic tradition. Alumni include Rhodes Scholars, a Nobel laureate, and other distinguished scholars. The college enrolls 2,600 undergraduate students and is located on a 200-acre campus adjacent to the Gettysburg National Military Park in Pennsylvania.

Contact: Nikki Rhoads, senior assistant director of communications, 717.337.6803