'Lincoln Wages War' theme of 203rd birthday fete

SPRINGFIELD — The Abraham Lincoln Association will celebrate the 16th president's 203rd birthday in February with two days of presentations on the theme of Lincoln and the Civil War.

The celebration will be Feb. 11-12 beginning with keynote speaker James Oakes on “The Emancipation Proclamation: Myths and Realities.” Oakes is a slavery and Civil War scholar from the City University of New York Graduate Center.

The Feb. 11 dinner speaker will be Illinois Democratic Sen. Richard Durbin.

Tickets for the dinner are $85 and $25 for a Sunday symposium luncheon. Other events are free.

Presentations by experts will include “Lincoln Wages War, 1861-1862,” and the symposium luncheon, “Lincoln's Forgotten Craft: The Art of Diplomacy.”