On Saturday, March 21, 2026, the Abraham Lincoln Institute (ALI) held its annual, daylong symposium before a full house at Ford’s Theatre. The symposium focused on the topic of Abraham Lincoln and the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
Catholic Law’s Professor Derek Webb, a board member of the ALI, was the program chair for this year’s symposium. “The ALI wanted to help bring the history of the Declaration of Independence alive at Ford’s Theatre by putting it in the context of Lincoln’s life and the Civil War. And we wanted to do that with conversations between leading scholars with diverse perspectives on law and history, moderated by some of the nation’s leading journalists and public intellectuals.” And he added they wanted to make it fun and entertaining as well, something of a “constitutional variety show,” with musical performances from the internationally renowned fiddle and guitar duo Jay Ungar and Molly Mason, the creators of the song the “Ashokan Farewell” used in Ken Burns’ Civil War documentary.
Professor Webb introduced the second panel of the day, which focused on Lincoln and the Promise of Equality in the Declaration of Independence. The panel featured Yale Law professor Akhil Amar and Washington and Lee University political science professor Lucas Morel, moderated by Jeff Rosen, George Washington University Law School professor and CEO emeritus of the National Constitution Center. You can watch that panel here: https://www.c- span.org/program/america-250/abraham-lincoln-and-the-promise-of-equality/675493
Other moderators included Steve Inskeep of NPR, Judy Woodruff of PBS, and the philanthropist David Rubenstein. And the other scholars included Edda Fields-Black of Carnegie Mellon, the 2025 Pulitzer Prize winner for a new book on Harriet Tubman, Richard Carwardine of Oxford University, the 2026 recipient of the Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize for a book that explores the influence of religious belief in the Civil War, Jane Kamensky, the new president of Monticello, and acclaimed biographer Walter Isaacson.
Several Catholic Law students were able to attend the symposium as well. Jared Perri, a 1L, won an “experience” at the Law School's Students for Public Interest Law auction to meet and get signed books from some of the noted authors at the symposium. Tyler Mruczinski, a 2L, said that “As a law student we are taught how to read and apply the law, yet most students are not taught why American law, especially our highest law, the Constitution, is just. This symposium filled that gap. Our Constitution is just because, as Lincoln said, it seeks to protect the principles of human equality and human freedom enshrined in the Declaration of Independence.”
Molly Ayers, another 1L, added that she particularly enjoyed hearing from Edda Fields- Black. “The way she collected information to recreate the lives of the people in her book is fascinating, especially her trip down to South Carolina experiencing the rice fields! I learned so much from the speaker’s expertise and enjoyed their discussion about Lincoln’s impact on the shaping of America and how it continues today.”
And 1L Bailey Morton shared his thoughts on hearing from Akhil Amar, the ALI’s 2026 book prize winner: “There’s a reason the guy gets cited so much by the Supreme Court.” He added, “Plus, who doesn’t love songs like 'Hard Times Come Again No More' or 'The Battle Cry of Freedom,’” referring to the performances by Ungar and Mason after lunch.