Richard Norton Smith thinks there is no excuse for a dull book, dull museum or dull speech – especially when it comes to history.

The historian will present his speech “The Triumph of Politics: Abraham Lincoln at 200” at 7 p.m. today in The Theatre of Doudna Fine Arts Center.

Smith will discuss Lincoln and how he grew over the years.

Smith, a scholar-in-residence at George Mason University in Washington, D.C., has appeared on ABC, C-SPAN and the “NewsHour with Jim Lehrer.”

Smith was the director of the Hoover, Eisenhower, Reagan, Ford and Lincoln presidential libraries and worked as executive director of a revitalized Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation.

He graduated from Harvard in 1975 and is the author of eight books. His book “Thomas E. Dewey and His Times” was a finalist for the 1983 Pulitzer Prize.

Jill Nilsen, vice president of external relations, said Smith was chosen to visit campus because he is known nationally and internationally as a Lincoln scholar.

“We picked Smith because of his expertise and because it tied to Lincoln’s 200th birthday,” Nilsen said.

Smith is brought to campus as part of the Jim Edgar Lecture Series. Former Gov. Jim Edgar and his wife helped create this series at Eastern.

The Edgars’ gave Eastern a grant of $150,000, and Eastern invested this money. The Edgar Speaker Series is interest off of the investments.

Edgar and Smith met while Smith worked as the director of the Gerald Ford Museum in Grand Rapids, Mich.

“The governor got to know him there,” Nilsen said.

Nilsen, Charleston resident Tony Sunderman, Charleston resident Fred Edgar, who is also Jim Edgar’s brother, and Al Grosboll served on the committee that brought Smith to campus.

“These were three individuals identified by the governor,” Nilsen said.

Richard Wandling, chair of Eastern’s political science department, and Anita Shelton, chair of Eastern’s history department, were also on the committee.

Eastern’s history department and the Office of External Relations help coordinate the series.

“Smith is certainly a well-known and respected author and speaker,” said Michael Watts, assistant dean of the College of Arts & Humanities. “It was a real coup for Eastern to schedule him to speak.”

There will also be speakers next fall and spring, who are yet to be determined.

Heather Holm can be reached at 581-7942 or at haholm@eiu.edu.

Historian and biographer Richard Norton Smith will be speaking about Abraham Lincoln and politics at 7 p.m. tonight in the Theatre of the Doudna Fine Arts Center. (Submitted Photo/The Daily Eastern News)

(more…)