Bringing Lincoln to Life: A Conversation with Doris Kearns Goodwin and Ivan Schwartz

February 8, 2023 - Bringing Lincoln to Life through Art and History: A Conversation with Doris Kearns Goodwin and Ivan Schwartz, co-sponsored by the Briscoe Center for American History and the LBJ Presidential Library.

In this discussion, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Goodwin and sculptor Schwartz reflect on how their depictions of Lincoln—one in words and film, the other in bronze—create meaningful interpretations of this icon of American history. With her #1 New York Times bestselling Team of Rivals, Doris Kearns Goodwin provides us with a groundbreaking interpretation of Lincoln, one that inspired Steven Spielberg’s award-winning movie Lincoln. Artist Ivan Schwartz is the founder of StudioEIS, the renowned sculpture and design studio located in Brooklyn that is responsible for many significant commemorative sculptures of iconic figures from American history, including sculptures of Lincoln that can be seen at the New York Historical Society, Gettysburg National Military Park, and President Lincoln's Cottage in Washington, D.C.

The conversation is moderated by Don Carleton, executive director of the Briscoe Center. The Briscoe Center is the archival home of the Doris Kearns Goodwin Papers and the Studio EIS Archive.

About Doris Kearns Goodwin:

Doris Kearns Goodwin is a celebrated presidential historian, preeminent public intellectual, and partner in Pastimes Productions. She is frequently seen on television putting today’s news into historical context.

Her first book, Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream, became a national bestseller and achieved critical acclaim. She was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II. Her bestselling book The Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys was adapted into an award-winning five-part television miniseries. The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft and the Golden Age of Journalism was awarded the Carnegie Medal. Doris earned the Lincoln Prize for Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln, which provided the basis for Steven Spielberg’s film Lincoln, starring Daniel Day-Lewis in an Academy Award-winning role as Lincoln. Her latest book, Leadership: In Turbulent Times, incorporates her five decades of scholarship studying Presidents Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt and Lyndon Baines Johnson. Her most recent title is as executive producer of 24 hours of television miniseries for the HISTORY Channel.

About Ivan Schwartz:

Ivan Schwartz is the founder and director of StudioEIS. He is a sculptor, painter, and designer, with a keen interest in American history and the use of sculpture in the development of our national symbols.

With a degree in sculpture from the College of Fine Arts at Boston University, he was the recipient of a distinguished alumni award from Boston University in 2003 and has shown his work in New York since 1981. Ivan was a member of the Dean’s Advisory Board at Boston University’s College of Fine Arts until the end of 2009 and was a founding board member of Art Omi, an international arts workshop. He was also President of Innovators in America, 2009-2011, working closely with Sir Harold Evans and Sarah Frank. Ivan’s visual memoir, Scratching the Surface, was published in 2021.