Join us on Wednesday, February 17, 2027, at 7 p.m. CT for a round table discussion on the book Why Lincoln? Foundation President and CEO Erin Carlson Mast and Historical Initiatives Consultant Dr. Christian McWhirter will be joined on the panel by historian and author Dr. Jonathan White and Civil War and Reconstruction specialist Michelle A. Krowl. Why Lincoln? is scheduled to be released August 2026.
Edited by renowned Civil War historian Jonathan W. White, Why Lincoln? is an essay collection where leading scholars and public historians explore the enduring legacy of the 16th president. The book provides a compelling case for his relevance by examining his defense of founding principles and his impact on America's future.
The book serves to reflect on Lincoln’s ongoing significance, particularly in modern times, with contributors delving into exactly why he remains a towering and inspirational figure in American history.
Dr. Jonathan W. White is a professor of American Studies Emeritus at Christopher Newport University. He is the author or editor of 17 books, including A House Built By Slaves: African American Visitors to the Lincoln White House, and co-winner of the 2023 Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize. He serves as vice chair of The Lincoln Forum, and in 2019, he won the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia’s Outstanding Faculty Award.
Michelle A. Krowl is the Civil War and Reconstruction specialist in the Manuscript Division at the Library of Congress, where she also oversees presidential papers from James K. Polk through Theodore Roosevelt. She co-curated the 2012-2014 exhibition The Civil War in America. Krowl received a B.A. in History from the University of California, Riverside, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in History from the University of California, Berkeley. She is the author of several articles and books on topics relating to the Civil War, as well as Quantico, Virginia and the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C. including a featured essay in Final Resting Places: Reflections on the Meaning of Civil War Graves. She has worked as a library assistant at the Historical Society of Washington, D.C., an assistant professor at Northern Virginia Community College, and as a research assistant for historian Doris Kearns Goodwin.
Christian McWhirter is the Lincoln Presidential Foundation's Historical Initiatives Consultant and the editor of the Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association. He previously served as Lincoln Historian at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum. He is the author of Battle Hymns: The Power and Popularity of Music in the Civil War along with numerous articles on Lincoln, the Civil War, popular culture, and public history.
Erin Carlson Mast has over 20 years of experience in cultural nonprofit excellence and leadership. She joined the Lincoln Presidential Foundation as its President & CEO in 2021. She has led the organizational revisioning, rebranding and relaunch, establishment of new partnerships, including with the National Park Service, and award-winning programming.
Mast’s current service to the field includes Vice Chair of the American Association for State and Local History (AASLH), Board of the Association of Midwest Museums, Board of Made by Us, Executive Committee of The Lincoln Forum, Board of the Abraham Lincoln Institute, National Advisory Council for More Perfect, Commissioner for the Barrington Cultural Commission, Barrington White House Advisory Board, Educating for American Democracy Community Learning Partners Task Force, and Chair of the AASLH Making History Matter fundraising campaign, which is raising funds to strengthen history organizations in the lead up to the U.S. 250th anniversary.
Prior to serving as the Foundation’s leader, Mast was the CEO & Executive Director of President Lincoln’s Cottage, a National Monument in Washington, DC.
In addition to her executive leadership, Mast has a depth and breadth of work experience including the Pew Center for Arts and Heritage, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, National Building Museum, and the Smithsonian Institution. She is an alumna of The George Washington University and Ohio University. (Access Mast's fill bio HERE.)
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