2026 Richard W. Smith Lecture in Civil War History:
Lincoln's Peace: Struggling to Find the End of a War
Monday, November 9, 2026
On March 4, 1865, in the midst of the American Civil War, President Abraham delivered his Second Inaugural, which promised a peace "with malice toward none, with charity for all." Three weeks later, he left Washington to visit the front lines in southern Virginia. He expected to witness, perhaps even orchestrate, an end to the war. What sort of peace did Lincoln envision, and was it in fact achieved before his untimely death by the assassin's hand on April 15, 1865? Historians continue to debate if and when a peace actually came. Was peace settled on April 9, 1865, at Appomattox, as conventional wisdom holds, when Lee surrendered to Grant in Wilmer McLean's parlor? Or did it only come ten weeks afterward, in Galveston, where a federal commander proclaimed Juneteenth the end of slavery? Maybe it came much later, in August of 1866, when President Andrew Johnson declared "the insurrection is at an end"? Some historians contend that the end date was later still, or that the war never actually ended. Professor Michael Vorenberg will describe the peace Lincoln hoped for but could not make before his assassination, a peace that required not one but many endings.
Dr. Michael Vorenberg is Royce Family Professor of History at Brown University. He received his A.B. and Ph.D. from Harvard University. His most recent book is Lincoln's Peace: The Struggle to End the American Civil War, which was published by Knopf in 2025. His earlier books include Final Freedom: The Civil War, the Abolition of Slavery, and the Thirteenth Amendment, which was a major source for Steven Spielberg's 2012 film Lincoln. He is also the author of The Emancipation Proclamation: A Brief History with Documents (St. Martin's/Bedford).
Richard W. Smith Lecture in Civil War History
Dr. Smith promoted the importance of learning history from the first time he stepped onto Ohio Wesleyan's campus as a professor in 1950. His teaching focused on early US History including topics such as the American Frontier and the Civil War. Dr. Smith's remarkable legacy includes being awarded the President Herbert Welch Meritorious Teaching Award in 1975, establishing the Epsilon Zeta Chapter of OWU Phi Alpha Theta as a charter member in 1954 and serving as the faculty advisor, publishing his book: Bishop McIlvaine, Slavery, Britain & the Civil War in 2014, and having no fewer than 18 of his former students having continued their education through the doctoral level. For his students, Dr. Smith was a demanding instructor as well as inspiring and popular who succeeded in instilling in them a lifelong love of learning and history. He retired in 1986 and was active and attended lectures as an emeritus professor including attending the 2024 Richard W. Smith Lecture at 100 years of age.
His former students, Evan Bukey, Evan Corns, and Lloyd Ferguson initiated the funding which created The Richard W. Smith Endowed Fund in Civil War History. Through many donations from alumni, colleagues, friends, and community members, this Endowed Fund supports the Richard W. Smith Lecture in Civil War History and has given the OWU History Department the opportunity to bring in top historians on the subjects surrounding Civil War History which honors Dr. Smith's legacy to educate students and the public about the Civil War. Dr. Smith passed away on July 1, 2025, but his legacy will continue on through the memories and experiences of his students as well as through the support provided by the Richard W. Smith Endowed Fund in Civil War History.
Richard W. Smith Memorial Service
The Richard W. Smith Memorial Service has been recorded and can be viewed here.
Past Lectures
2025 – Thunder in the Valley: Grant, Sheridan, and Hayes Triumph in the Shenandoah Valley, 1864 – Brooks Simpson, Ph.D. Stream OWU Video | Press Release
2024 – A Tale of Two Slave Traders: Lincoln and the Destruction of the Transatlantic Slave Trade – Jonathan W. White, Ph.D. Stream OWU Video | Press Release
2023 – The Howling Storm: Weather, Climate, and the American Civil War – Kenneth W. Noe, Ph.D. Stream OWU Video | Press Release
2022 – An End or Beginning: Lee's Army After Appomattox – Caroline E. Janney, Ph.D. Stream OWU Video | Press Release
2021 – General William S. Rosecrans and the Pitfalls of Command – Mark Grimsley, Ph.D. Stream OWU Video | Press Release
2020 – No Lecture due to COVID-19
2019 – Generalship and Army Culture: A Study of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia and the Union Army of the Potomac – Joseph T. Glatthaar, Ph.D. Press Release
2018 – The Transformative Fourteenth Amendment: The Constitutional Amendment That Reshaped America – Michael Les Benedict, Ph.D. Stream OWU Video | Press Release
Chair: Barbara Terzian Cornelia Cole Fairbanks Associate Professor in the Department of History Elliott Hall 110A | 740-368-3632 | baterzia@owu.edu
Academic Assistant: Jennifer Seely Academic Assistant in the Department of History Elliott Hall 110 and Edwards Gymnasium 107G | 740-368-3982 | jaseely@owu.edu
