The United States Constitution has withstood the test of time for more than two centuries as our nation’s charter of government and the guarantor of our liberties. In 2005, a federal law sponsored by Senator Robert Byrd declared September 17 to be Constitution Day.
Northern Kentucky University is paying tribute to Constitution Day throughout the week of September 12. On Wednesday, Sept. 14 at 7:00 p.m., NKU’s Department of History and Geography, Salmon P. Chase College of Law, Scripps Howard Center for Civic Engagement, and Women’s and Gender Studies are presenting “The Constitution’s Greatest Challenge: The Civil War.” Chase Law professor John Bickers, history and women’s studies professor Debra Meyers and history and geography professor Paul Tenkotte will participate in this panel discussion in the Otto M. Budig Theater on NKU’s campus. The event is free and open to the public. Bickers, Meyers and Tenkotte will look at some of the challenging constitutional issues that arose during the Civil War and how they continue to impact our government, our liberties and our obligations as citizens 150 years later.
Eva G. Farris Special Collections will be participating at this event through a display highlighting unique collection materials documenting the American Civil War – including the Cyrus Reasoner Civil War correspondence which describes the life of an infantryman in Kentucky and elsewhere during the war, and notable secondary sources for Civil War research. The Cyrus Reasoner Civil War Correspondence (1861-1865) has been recently arranged, preserved, and digitized. The finding aid, a guide to the collection contents, is available on the department website at http://archives.nku.edu/special_collections/collections/reasoner/index.php .
Letter written by Reasoner, Jan. 30, 1862
The Special Collections and Archives Reading Room is open Monday-Friday from 1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. and at other times by appointment. It is located in Steely Library room 106, Special Collections and Archives, on the 1st floor. http://library.nku.edu/about_the_library/maps_and_parking/library_floor_plans/index.php
We welcome visitors to use the Reasoner Civil War Correspondence and other collections related to the Civil War for research. Questions about collections and resources can be sent to Anne Ryckbost at ryckbosta1@nku.edu.
