Frank Williams and Edna Medford

Lincoln scholars Frank Williams and Edna Medford talked about Abraham Lincoln’s life and some of the thousands of books written about him (currently being published at the rate of one a week). They responded to telephone calls and electronic mail. February 2009 is the bicentennial of the birth of Abraham Lincoln and the kickoff of the national celebration. Frank Williams and Edna Medford are the co-authors, with Harold Holzer, of The Emancipation Proclamation: Three Views.

Frank J. Williams, former chief justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court, is the founding chairman of the Lincoln Forum. A member of the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission, he served for 12 years as president of the Lincoln Group of Boston and for nine as president of the Abraham Lincoln Association. He is the author of a dozen books including a collection of his essays titled Judging Lincoln. He is currently working on an annotated bibliography of Lincoln books and pamphlets written since Lincoln’s death (over 16,000 total).

Edna Greene Medford is an associate professor and former director of the Department of History at Howard University. She a contributor to Lincoln Lessons: Reflections on America’s Greatest Leader and co-editor of the two-volume Price of Freedom: Slavery and the Civil War. Ms. Medford serves on the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission’s Advisory Council and is a member of the Lincoln Forum and the Lincoln Group of the District of Columbia. She was formerly a member of the Scholars' Advisory panel for the Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum. close