Historical Forum: Slavery or Freedom Forever?

"The past isn't dead.  It isn't even past"
                                      -William Faulkner

“History teaches everything including the future.”
                                                        -Lamartine

Join the Russell Forum, the civic engagement program of UGA’s Russell Library, for a free community forum on the historical crisis of American slavery.  The program will take place on Friday, April 27^th from 3:30-5 p.m. in Room 258 of the Russell Special Collections Building located at 300 South Hull Street on The University of Georgia’s West Campus.   

About the Issue…
To begin the forum, historian Dr. Chase Hagood will give forum participants an overview of the time period as background to help the group to understand the mindset
of 19^th century Americans grappling with the crisis of slavery.  Hagood and his moderating partner, Jill Severn will help forum attendees weigh several approaches faced by Americans in 1854 as they wrestled with the question of how to decide if the territories of Kansas and Nebraska should be admitted to the Union as free or slave. As a group, forum participants will look closely at the values underlying these historical approaches and consider if and how these same underlying values inform American attitudes and approaches to tough public issues today.   Ultimately, this forum discussion  is both an opportunity to travel back in time to troubled times before the Civil War when people  grappled with the future of  slavery, and a chance to consider how “values debates” animated 19th century Americans’ politics as much as they do so today.

About the Forum Discussion…
This forum is based on the National Issues Forums issue guide, “Slavery or Freedom Forever, “developed by the New England Center for Civic Life at Franklin Pierce College.  A copy of the guide is available for advanced download at http://tinyurl.com/slaveryguide. We welcome all perspectives and encourage a vigorous and civil deliberation of the issues at Russell Forum programs.  The moderators for the slavery forum are both trained and experienced National Issues Forums moderators and are dedicated to ensuring a lively, civil, and engaging experience for all. 

The event is free and welcome to all.  For directions, please view this map:  http://g.co/maps/dgce6. Free parking for the forum is available in the Hull Street Deck via the Baxter Street entrance. For more information, contact Jill Severn at 706-542-5766 or jsevern@uga.edu