The National Civil War Museum in Harrisburg will have a few programs to offer the public for the month of February. On Presidents Day, they will have actor James Haney, who will portray Abraham Lincoln.

“He is going to be talking about Abraham Lincoln battle with slavery and how he got to the 13th Amendment, “said Jeffrey Nicholas, CEO of the National Civil War Museum.

Haney, will present Lincoln’s Battle with Slavery.

“It was a long journey from his early days in his life to that point. And he was quite often anti slavery, which means he was against slavery, but not necessarily an abolitionist, not someone who was on the forefront. His views changed over time. Heaven, forbid he grew as a person. And so, Mr. Haney will be here on President's Day talking about that progression that he made. And on President's Day, admission will be reduced to be ten dollars for adults and all kids who are home from school that day will be free.”

On Wednesday February 20th at 7 p.m., Jefferey Nicholas will interview Dr. Jonathan Lande about his new book Freedom Soldiers: The Emancipation of Black Soldiers during the Civil War.

“this tells the story of those USCT troops like Ephraim, who joined the U .S. Army to fight for their freedom and how they reacted to that. In some cases, as I have just started reading the book, you can imagine that some of these recently freed people in the South had escaped their plantation. But their wife or their children might be at another plantation as they were sold apart at some point. And so, they worked very hard to try to find their families. As we all can relate to. And even when they did and they were forced and they joined the army, some of them left, went AWOL, as it were, to go see their family, to protect their family and what those consequences were. It’s a very fascinating story. And part of that great research that's going on now about these American heroes who gained their own freedom and then help protect ours.”

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