OSWEGO – Civil War Historian and Oswego native Tom Ebert will speak on Abraham Lincoln’s changing views on emancipation in a special presentation at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 11, at Fort Ontario State Historic Site, 1 E. Fourth St., Oswego.

The program covers the evolution of Lincoln’s opinions on emancipation from the time of the Lincoln – Douglas debates in 1858, through the passage of the 13th amendment in January 1865 to his last speech, given two days before his assassination. It is free and open to the public and will take place in the Enlisted Men’s Barracks inside the old stone fortification.

Ebert is working on a book about this subject. He was co-author of “Full Measure of Devotion, Lincoln’s Private Secretary John G. Nicolay” and a major contributor to “Freedom’s Delay: Emancipation in American 1775-1865,” by Dr. Allen Carden, published by the University of Tennessee Press. 

Fort Ontario has hosted Ebert for many of his well-received talks on a variety of Civil War subjects. The topics have covered Oswego’s 147th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment, Civil War genealogical research, and slavery myths. He has compiled an Ebert-McGrath family genealogy, a three-volume documentary history of the 147th New York Infantry Regiment and an annotated brief history of Oswego’s 184th New York Infantry Regiment.

Now a California resident, Ebert holds master’s degrees in History and Library Science. He has also appeared on C-Span.

Fort Ontario State Historic Site is located at the north end of East Fourth Street in the city of Oswego, New York. There is plenty of free parking available. If you have any questions about the program, contact Paul Lear at 315-343-4711 or paul.lear@parks.ny.gov.

FORT ONTARIO HOSTS RENOWN HISTORIAN – Fort Ontario State Historic Site, 1 E. Fourth St., Oswego, hosts Civil War Historian Tom Ebert for a talk at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 11 in the Enlisted men’s Barracks inside the old stone fort. The program, which covers Abraham’s changing views on emancipation, is free and open to the public.