Wide Awake: The Connecticut Youth Movement that Elected Lincoln
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Presented by
Connecticut Museum of Culture and History
In the election before the Civil War, young anti-slavery activists in Connecticut organized one of the largest, strangest, and most consequential mass movements in American history. Marching in militaristic, torchlit rallies, these Wide Awakes launched a diverse grassroots campaign to defend democracy from slavery. Their incredible rise helped elect Lincoln, but also sparked the Civil War, exploring the boundaries between political speech and political violence, democracy and war. Join us to learn more about the Wide Awakes with Jon Grinspan, Curator of Political History at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History and author of the new book, Wide Awake: The Forgotten Force that Elected Lincoln and Spurred the Civil War.
Come early to view our new exhibition about the Wide Awakes, which draws on the Connecticut Museum’s trove of artifacts relating to the Hartford-area founders of the movement.
This event is free and open to the public, but we recommend that you register to reserve a spot. You can also purchase a copy of the book in advance when you get free tickets online. Your copy will be available for pick up at the event. Copies of the book will also be available for purchase at the event, courtesy of our friends at River Bend Book Shop.
Light refreshments will be served. Questions? Contact Natalie Belanger, Public Programs Manager, at nbelanger@connecticutmuseum.org.
ABOUT OUR SPEAKER
Jon Grinspan is Curator of Political History at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, and frequent contributor to the New York Times. His work explores the deep history – and fraught present – of American democracy. He is the award-winning author of three books, most recently Wide Awake: The Forgotten Force that Elected Lincoln and Spurred the Civil War. As a Smithsonian curator, he also collects objects from contemporary political events (primaries, conventions, protests, etc), to help tell the story of America’s past and present to museum-goers in the future.