Officers of The Lincoln Forum
Hon. Frank J. Williams, Chairman
Frank J. Williams, Chairman of the Lincoln Forum, is Chief Justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court (Ret.), and one of the nation's most prominent authorities, collectors, and leaders in the Lincoln field. He served for 12 years as president of the Lincoln Group of Boston, for nine as president of the Abraham Lincoln Association, and has been chairman of the Forum since its inception -- all while working as well as president of the Ulysses S. Grant Association. The author of a dozen books, he is also a popular lecturer, whose papers have appeared in several books, including We Cannot Escape History and The Lincoln Forum series. Williams co-edited Abraham Lincoln: Sources and Style of Leadership and Abraham Lincoln: Contemporary, and with Harold Holzer, authored Lincoln's Deathbed in Art and Memory: The "Rubber Room" Phenomenon. His most recent book is Judging Lincoln, a collection of his essays, and LSU Press has published his The Emancipation Proclamation: Three Views. (Co-authored with Harold Holzer and Edna Greene Medford.) A member of the U.S. Lincoln Bicentennial Commission, he lives with his wife Virginia in Hope Valley, RI.
Harold Holzer, Vice Chairman
Harold Holzer who also served as co-chairman of the U.S. Lincoln Bicentennial Commission, has authored, co-authored, and edited 23 books on the Lincoln era, including The Lincoln Image, Lincoln on Democracy (with Mario Cuomo), The Lincoln-Douglas Debates, Dear Mr. Lincoln: Letters to the President, and The Lincoln Mailbag. His more than 350 articles for popular and scholarly publications include regular appearances in American Heritage, Civil War Times, and many other publications. Holzer's book, Lincoln At Cooper Union: The Speech That Made Abraham Lincoln President (2004) won a Lincoln Prize and other awards. Holzer serves as Senior Vice President for External Affairs at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, and lives in Rye, NY. In 2008, President Bush awarded Harold the National Humanities Medal. A frequent commentator on C-Span and other television networks, Harold and his wife Edith have two daughters, Harvard grad Remy, and Yale grad Meg, a graduate of NYU law school. Harold's website is Haroldholzer.com.
Russell H. Weidman, Treasurer
Mr. Weidman is a 1956 honors graduate of the United States Naval Academy. In 1964 he was awarded a Masters Degree with honors in High Energy Nuclear Physics. He continued his career in the Navy as an aviator and Aeronautical Engineering Officer until he retired in 1978 as a Commander. He then joined the engineering firm of Science Applications International Corporation where he worked on numerous technical programs for 18 years. He retired as Vice President in 1996. Russ has served as Treasurer for the Cruise Missile Association and is a member of the Lincoln Forum, the Lincoln Group of D. C. and the Civil War Round Table of the District of Columbia. He supports the Civil War Preservation Trust and the Central Virginia Battlefield Trust. Currently, Russ volunteers at the National Archives preparing Civil War records for microfilming and digitization. He has worked with the Compiled Military Service records, the Freedmen’s Bureau and is now arranging records and preparing a database using the Civil War widows’ pension files.
Edna Greene Medford, Executive Committee
Edna Greene Medford is the department chair and director of graduate studies in the department of history at Howard University in Washington. The former director of New York’s African Burial Ground project, she has appeared regularly on C-Span, as a commentator on the Lincoln-Douglas Debates, as both guest and host on the series Q and A, and on the network’s American President series. She has written many articles and reviews, and is co-author of the book, The Emancipation Proclamation: Three Views.
Craig L. Symonds, Executive Committee
Craig L. Symonds, professor of history emeritus at the U.S. Naval Academy and, until recently, the chief historian of the U.S.S. Monitor Center at the Mariners’ Museum in Newport News, Virginia, is the author of the recent book, Lincoln and His Admirals, which won the 2009 Lincoln prize, the culmination of three decades of study of the Civil War navies and the Union’s admiral-in-chief. His previous books include biographies of Joseph E. Johnston and Patrick Cleburne, a battle guide to Gettysburg, and the award winning study Decision at Sea: Five Naval Battles that Shaped American History.
George Buss, Executive Committee
George Buss serves over 200 schools in the upper Midwest in his current role as Program Manager for AVID - Advancement Via Individual Determination. His work with students in Freeport District 145 is recognized by the Illinois State Board of Education, Illinois House of Representatives and the Illinois Education Association. He was also named an Outstanding Young Educator by the Freeport Jaycees and is featured in AVID: 25 years - 25 Stories.
For nearly a quarter century George has been interpreting Abraham Lincoln and as Lincoln said of himself; George, too, "is 6 foot 4 inches tall, nearly and weighs between 160 and 180 pounds." George appears nationally to wide acclaim. His work has been seen on C-Span, The Illinois Channel and local cable affiliates and was featured in Smithsonian Magazine.
George is not only known for his ability to portray and interpret Lincoln; he is president of the Stephen Douglas Association, vice president of the Lincoln Douglas Society, and board member of the Lincoln Fellowship of Wisconsin.
George is curator of the exhibit "Out from the Shadow of Lincoln: Stephen A. Douglas" from his own collection of Douglas images, artifacts and primary source documents. The exhibit continues touring the Midwest since its debut in 2008.
He has degrees from Ball State University and National-Louis University. He and his wife Mona reside in Freeport, IL and are the parents of two sons, Jordan, serving in the United States Navy and Jason, a senior at Western Illinois University.
