| Abstract | The article discusses the difference between fact-based history and symbol-based commemoration to elucidate how U.S. President Abraham Lincoln became a symbol of racial equality as grounded in collective memory and history. Two ways of knowing the past--collective memory and history--are distinguishable. History is situated external to and above groups and develops independently of their problems and concerns. Once established, history remains stable-its stream of facts and demarcations fixed once and for all. History is objectively conceived, sustained by evidence, and unaffected by the social context in which its practitioners work. In contrast, collective memory -- the way ordinary people conceive the past -- reflects the concerns of the present. Collective memories vanish when they cease to be relevant to current experience. The article adds that Lincoln's changing relation to the African American community of memory is a means of addressing unresolved problems. Many sociologists have recognized that commemorative symbolism creates new images of the past, but the process by which this occurs has never been closely studied. The article draws on a variety of sources, including Lincoln Day observances, press commentary, oratory, and prints in a effort to understand how commemorative symbolism works.
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