Essex County held a ceremony on Wednesday, April 15 to commemorate the 150th anniversary of President Abraham Lincoln’s death.
Lincoln was shot on the evening of April 14, 1865, and died the next day on April 15, 1865.
The program was held by the famous bronze Seated Lincoln statue in front of the Historic Essex County Courthouse in Newark. Gutzon Borglum created the statue more than 100 years ago, before carving his more famous work at Mt. Rushmore.
The afternoon program featured government officials, civic leaders and local historians reading speeches given by Lincoln at important times of his life.
At the ceremony were (seated from left) Freeholder Patricia Sebold, educator and
civil rights leader Robert Curvin and Warren Grover of the Newark History Society; and (standing from left) the Rev. Dr. M. William Howard, Pastor of Bethany Baptist Church; Assemblyman Thomas Giblin; Peoples Organization for Progress Chairman Lawrence Hamm; retired Star-Ledger reporter and event organizer Guy Sterling; Historian John Zinn, who is serving as Chairman of the New Jersey Civil War 150th Anniversary Committee; Essex County Deputy Chief of Staff William Payne; Essex County Executive Joseph N. DiVincenzo; and Newark History Society President Timothy J. Crist.
(Photo by Glen Frieson)