Dr. Gary P. Zola will examine the evolving influence Lincoln has had on the American Jewish community during the 19th and 20th centuries. He will discuss how many American Jews became convinced that Lincoln’s personal traits and professional deportment made him a true Jewish sojourner. Over the past 150 years, American Jewry “Judaized” Lincoln as Lincoln “Americanized” the Jews, serving an important function in transforming American Jewish life. Gary P. Zola is the Executive Director of The Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives (AJA) and Professor of the American Jewish Experience at Hebrew Union College- Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR) in Cincinnati. The AJA is the world’s largest free-standing research center dedicated solely to the study of the American Jewish experience.