'Land of Lincoln' author charms, captivates campus

RELEASED: Sept. 11, 2008

DANVILLE, KY—Andrew Ferguson, author of the widely acclaimed "Land of Lincoln: Adventures in Abe's America," spent Sept. 10 on campus meeting with students, faculty and staff.

The visit continues a series of Centre "Year of Lincoln" activities leading up to the 200th anniversary of Lincoln's birth on Feb. 12, 2009. The "Year of Lincoln" explores the life and influence of America's 16th president and the College's connections to him. (To visit the "Year of Lincoln" web page, click here.)

During his visit, Ferguson met individually with several faculty and staff members to gather information for a book-in-the-works on college admission. Noting the "amazing number" of recent and current campus building projects as well as the No. 13 national ranking by Forbes magazine, the author expressed his overall impression succinctly: "Centre's hot!"

In the afternoon, Ferguson attended a reception for students who had created art projects reflecting various aspects of "Land of Lincoln." (For a story on "Land of Lincoln" student artwork, click here.) The writer's easy-going manner put students at ease, and they peppered him with questions about his writing process and about Lincoln. At one point, Ferguson joked about taking the artwork with him. "This could be worth a lot of money," he said. "Put Lincoln's name on anything and it sells."

At an evening convocation in Newlin Hall of the College's Norton Center for the Arts, Ferguson recapped highlights from "Land of Lincoln" and his experiences traveling around the country to gather material about collectors, shrines, museums, Lincoln presenters and other manifestations of "America's fascination with all things Lincoln."

He ended his presentation by expressing his view that it is difficult if not impossible to know in any definitive way "the real Lincoln—dead now for more than 140 years." But he went on to say that what is accessible is Lincoln's public record and his written and spoken words that are still capable of instruction and inspiration: "Lincoln's overriding goal was to preserve the union. Not just any union–but one dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. If he hadn't succeeded, the America we live in today would be a very different country."

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Founded in 1819, Centre College is ranked among the U.S. News top 50 national liberal arts colleges. Consumers Digest ranks Centre No. 1 in educational value among all U.S. liberal arts colleges, and Forbes magazine ranks Centre No. 13 in the nation among all colleges and universities. Centre alumni, known for their nation-leading loyalty in annual financial support, include two U.S. vice presidents and two Supreme Court justices. For more, visit http://www.centre.edu/web/elevatorspeech/

For news archives go to http://www.centre.edu/web/news/newsarchive.html.

For earlier news releases on Andrew Ferguson, go to http://www.centre.edu/web/news/ferguson.html and http://www.centre.edu/web/news/lincoln_ferguson.html.