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Lincoln at the Library--Virtual

Mourning Lincoln

With "Mourning Lincoln," Dr. Martha Hodes explores reactions to Lincoln's death, which astounded a war-weary nation. Registration required for this free virtual program.

On November 12, 2025, at 2pm, the Allen County Public Library is hosting Dr. Martha Hodes via Zoom for a free hybrid program. Register for the Zoom link to view at home or view the stream in the Discovery Center at the Main Library. 

The news of Abraham Lincoln’s death on April 15, 1865, just days after Confederate surrender, astounded the war-weary nation. Massive crowds turned out for services and ceremonies. Countless expressions of grief and dismay were printed in newspapers and preached in sermons. Public responses to the assassination have been well chronicled, but Dr. Martha Hodes’ book is the first to delve into the personal and intimate responses of everyday people—Northerners and Southerners, soldiers and civilians, black people and white, men and women, rich and poor. Through deep and thoughtful exploration of diaries, letters, and other personal writings penned during the spring and summer of 1865, Dr. Hodes captures the full range of reactions to the president’s assassination—far more diverse than public expressions would suggest—telling a story of shock, glee, sorrow, anger, blame, and fear. Hodes brings to life a key moment of national uncertainty and confusion, when competing visions of the country’s future proved irreconcilable and hopes for racial justice in the aftermath of the Civil War slipped from the nation’s grasp.

Martha Hodes is Professor of History at New York University, and holds degrees from Bowdoin College, Harvard University, and Princeton University. At NYU, Martha teaches courses on race, the Civil War, and the nineteenth-century United States, as well as courses devoted to the craft of history-writing, including History and Storytelling, Autobiography and History, Biography and History, Reconstructing Lives, and Experimental History. She is a winner of NYU’s Golden Dozen Teaching Award. Her 2015 book Mourning Lincoln was the winner of the Lincoln Prize of the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, a longlist finalist for the National Book Award, a Wall Street Journal best book of the year, and a New York Times Editor’s Choice. She has been awarded numerous fellowships, including from the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Whiting Foundation, and the Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers of the New York Public Library. She has presented her scholarship across the United States, in Europe, and in Australia, speaking at universities and colleges, high schools and elementary schools, historical societies, libraries, museums, and literary festivals, and serves as a consultant for documentaries, television and radio shows, and museum exhibitions on many aspects of American history.

Email Lincoln@acpl.info for any questions.

Lincoln at the Library is sponsored by the Friends of the Allen County Public Library