How can a sculpture shape ideas about a well-known leader and the ending of slavery?
After Thomas Ball learned that President Abraham Lincoln had been assassinated in 1865, he decided to make a statue in his honor. His work helped form Lincoln’s legacy as ‘The Great Emancipator,’ but a closer look at the terms of the Emancipation Proclamation and responses to the sculpture help shape a more complex story about the freeing of enslaved people.
Let's take a look
Questions to consider
What prompted Thomas Ball to create the Emancipation Group sculpture?
What did the Emancipation Proclamation do (or not do)?
How does Sanford Biggers’ sculpture, Lifting the Veil respond to the Emancipation Group sculpture? What does it show us?
Meet the historians
Get to know the historians. Each historian in this episode has a card with information about that historian.
There are 3 cards to read.
Taylor L. Bailey
Public Historian
I get to look at things and moments in history and teach others about them!
Kacie Lucchini Butcher
Public Historian
I find and share stories from the past that have shaped our present, and love showing people how cool history is!
Janine Yorimoto Boldt
Curator
I believe art is a great way to connect with other people both past and present.
Quote from a historian
“So the Emancipation Proclamation and the celebration of Lincoln as ‘The Great Emancipator’ is a lot more complicated. It didn’t happen like this at all.”
Janine Yorimoto Boldt
Episode credits
Producer
David Boffa
Coordinating Producer
Mia Forslund
Hosts
Taylor L. Bailey
Kacie Lucchini Butcher
Special Guest
Janine Yorimoto Boldt
Research and Writing
David Boffa
Director of Photography
Ryan Hendricks
Videography
Ryan Hendricks
Ian Glodich
David Boffa
Editing
David Boffa
Ian Glodich
Captioning
Catie Pfeifer
Translation Services
Rev
Educator Support Materials
David Boffa
Mia Forslund
Kate Melberg
Web Design
Charles Barrows
Erika Kachama-Nkoy
Web Development
John Vieth
Graphic and Motion Design
Charles Barrows
Ian Glodich
Danielle Riseley
Additional Production Support
Philip Ashby
Al Barcheski
John Dachik
Angie Hause
Kurt Kaspar
Andy LaValley
Doug May
Will Salzmann
Executive Producer
Director of Education
Megan Monday
Director of Television
Jon Miskowski
Project Partners
Rebecca M. Blank Center for Campus History
University of Wisconsin–Madison Libraries
Wisconsin Historical Society
Special Thanks
Janine Yorimoto-Boldt
Kirstin Pires
Tarah Connolly
Chazen Museum of Art
Educator advisors
Debbie Burmeister
Neenah, WI
Peoria, AZ
Erin Ermis
Neenah Joint School District
Neenah, WI
Toni Heinowski
Muskego, WI
Tanya Schmidt
Oshkosh Area School District
Oshkosh, WI
Barb Shaver
Kettle Moraine School District
Wales, WI
Funding provided by
Timothy William Trout Education Fund
a gift of Monroe and Sandra Trout
Eleanor and Thomas Wildrick Family
Focus Fund for Education
Friends of PBS Wisconsin