STATE of CONNECTICUT

BY HER EXCELLENCY

M. JODI RELL

GOVERNOR

Executive Order No. 20

WHEREAS, February 12, 2009 will be the bicentennial anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln and the United States Congress has declared a two-year celebration of this occasion;  and

WHEREAS, Abraham Lincoln was the sixteenth President of our country and embodied honesty, hard work, eloquence and commitment to our nation; and

WHEREAS, Abraham Lincoln had many important connections to Connecticut, including  speeches during the 1860 Presidential campaign in Bridgeport, Hartford, Meriden, New Haven, New London and Norwich; and

WHEREAS, the Hartford Wide Awakes, an organization of young Republican men opposed to slavery, marched with precision in their glazed capes and military caps in President Lincoln’s inaugural parade; and

WHEREAS, President Lincoln led this nation through our Civil War, preserved the unity of our nation and issued the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing all slaves in states at war with the northern union; and

WHEREAS, during the course of the Civil War, Connecticut factories supplied the union armies and navies with arms, munitions and other supplies; and

WHEREAS, Governor William Buckingham answered President Lincoln’s call for troops by raising 54,000 men, more than one-tenth of Connecticut’s population of 461,000, to serve in volunteer regiments and fight for the Union; and

WHEREAS, all Americans can benefit from being informed about the life of Abraham Lincoln and the many contributions he made to our nation;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, M. Jodi Rell, Governor of the State of Connecticut, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and Statutes of the State of Connecticut, do hereby ORDER and DIRECT:

1. That there shall be established the Connecticut Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission (hereinafter “the Commission”);

2. That the following volunteers shall be appointed to the Commission:   
   • Walton Brown-Foster, Professor of Political Science at Central Connecticut State University,
   • Michael Burlingame, Sadowski Professor Emeritus of History at Connecticut College,
   • Lisa Curran, Program Officer at Lincoln Financial Foundation,
   • Katherine Kane, Executive Director of the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center,
   • Irving Moy, Civil War Re-enactor,
   • Blair Pavlik, Civil War Re-enactor and Program Coordinator of the Connecticut Civil War Round Table,
   • Mary Lou Pavlik, Civil War Re-enactor and Program Coordinator of the Connecticut Civil War Round Table,
   • Andrea Rapacz, Director of Public Programs at the Connecticut Historical Society,
   • Dana L. Schaffer, Assistant Director of the Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance and Abolition,
   • Bruce M. Stave, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of History  at the University of Connecticut and Acting State Historian,
   • Ronald J. Spencer, Associate Academic Dean at Trinity College,
   • Olivia S. White, Executive Director of the Amistad Center for Art and Culture,
   • Howard Wright, Dean of Students at Renbrook School,
   • Walter Woodward, Assistant Professor of History at the University of Connecticut and State Historian,
   • And such other members as may from time to time be appointed to said Commission;

3. That the Commission shall receive assistance and cooperation from the State Departments of Education and Higher Education and the Commission on Culture and Tourism; and

4. That the Commission shall lead efforts to commemorate the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial in Connecticut, research and make prioritized recommendations on the most effective and beneficial ways for the State of Connecticut to commemorate the Bicentennial, implement such recommendations by working with appropriate state and local agencies and historical and educational institutions, coordinate communications between the State of Connecticut and the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Congressional Caucus and throughout the two-year commemorative period authorized by the United Stated Congress, generally support efforts to honor the life of Abraham Lincoln and inform and educate our residents about his values, achievements and contributions to our nation.

This order shall take effect immediately.

Dated at Hartford this 11th day of July 2008.

M. Jodi Rell

Governor