Distinguishing between the reality of Lincoln’s relationship with the Quakers and the mythology that has emerged over time, Kashatus will show how Lincoln skillfully navigated a relationship with one of the most vocal and politically active religious groups of the 19th century and the practical ways in which a shared belief in the “Doctrine of Necessity” affected the president’s decisions on emancipation, conscientious objection and aid to former slaves.

William C. Kashatus is a historian, educator, and author. A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Earlham College, he earned an MA in history at Brown University and a Ph.D. in history at the University of Pennsylvania. A product of Friends education, Kashatus has taught at the Episcopal Academy, the William Penn Charter School, Penn's Graduate School of Education, and at West Chester University.  A prolific writer, he has written and published more than 200 essays in such periodicals as American History Magazine, Christian Science Monitor, The New York Times, Pennsylvania Heritage, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and Quaker History. He is also the author of more than two dozen books on biography, baseball, and American history including A Trial of Principle and Faith: Abraham Lincoln, the Quakers, and the Civil War, published by Praeger in 2014.