Knowing Him by Heart: African Americans on Abraham Lincoln ed. by Fred Lee Hord and Matthew D. Norman (review)

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Reviewed by:

• Knowing Him by Heart: African Americans on Abraham Lincoln ed. by Fred Lee Hord and Matthew D. Norman
• Maurice Adkins

Knowing Him by Heart: African Americans on Abraham Lincoln. Edited by Fred Lee Hord and Matthew D. Norman. Knox College Lincoln Studies Center Series. (Urbana, Chicago, and Springfield: University of Illinois Press, 2023. Pp. xx, 537. $39.95, ISBN 978-0-252-04468-7.)

The anthology Knowing Him by Heart: African Americans on Abraham Lincoln, edited by Fred Lee Hord and Matthew D. Norman, provides a captivating exploration of the varied perspectives held by African Americans on Abraham Lincoln’s presidency and legacy. With more than two hundred letters and speeches delivered by local and national figures, the book offers a diverse range of views from African Americans who praised and criticized the president’s speeches, policies, and politics. Aiming to demonstrate how African Americans maintained and critiqued the memory of Abraham Lincoln within national discourse, the editors convincingly argue that views on the sixteenth president were not monolithic, as some spoke with adulation while others offered critiques and criticism of his candidacy, his presidency, and, after his death on April 15, 1865, his legacy.

The editors are not the first to pursue this examination; scholars have engaged in these critiques because Lincoln’s legacy has coincided with the political and pedagogical debates on African American history. Though this text forgoes participating in this discussion, its content is a vital resource for historians and students who seek to understand the short- and long-term impact of Lincoln’s presidency on African Americans, particularly as posterity has maintained the moniker “the Great Emancipator,” which has come under scrutiny not only within academia but also among the broader public.

The anthology, arranged chronologically, proves valuable, providing the reader with perspectives from Lincoln’s contemporaries, whose views have continued to guide the discourse on his legacy in the present day. Beginning with Frederick Douglass’s Emancipation Day address at Poughkeepsie, New York, on August 2, 1858, and closing with Barack Obama’s remarks at the Abraham Lincoln Association banquet in Springfield, Illinois, on February 12, 2009, speeches and opinions from national voices are combined with those of lesser-known individuals, which gives this book its uniqueness by featuring voices from all corners of African American society. It displays differing perspectives on Lincoln during his life and after his death, particularly views that were, and continue to be, shaped by the local, regional, and national narratives on the man who maintained the Union and ended slavery.

As the reader navigates through the volume’s content, a common theme is criticism of Lincoln’s policies and actions, particularly regarding equality, colonization, Black soldiers, slave contraband, and suffrage rights. Despite these critiques, nearly every speech and letter maintained that Lincoln was the right person for the times. For example, Frederick Douglass, one of many African Americans who had the ear of Lincoln, celebrated the president’s endeavors to maintain the Union and dismantle the so-called peculiar institution. However, he condemned several policies and speeches of the president, particularly his overtures to white fears, which Douglass felt could cause irreparable harm to the future position of African Americans in the country. Yet acknowledging the political alternative pushed Douglass to maintain his respect, admiration, and allegiance to Lincoln, a position held by most African Americans during that era. [End Page 621]

Overall, the legacy of Lincoln in American discourse has remained within the realm of celebration. Past and present-day memorials and emancipation jubilees celebrating the life of Lincoln are still traditions throughout the country and within African American communities. As the United States continues to contend with the legacy of slavery, scholars and students of history must persist in examining, analyzing, and critiquing these historical moments to ensure that we are not only maintaining the memory of the past but also amplifying the voices and perspectives of those people who lived during it. This book is a great starting point to do so and is highly recommended for American studies and African American history courses.

Maurice Adkins Fayetteville State University Copyright © 2024 The Southern Historical Association ...