On the 200th anniversary of Lincoln’s birthday, the Library welcomes Dr. Wes Jackson for a discussion titled Lincoln and the Homestead Act: An Attempt at Democracy or Manifest Destiny? on Thursday, February 12, at 6:30 p.m. at the Central Library, 14 W. 10th St.

Jackson will discuss the intended purpose of the Homestead Act, what worked, what didn’t, and how and why homesteading ultimately ended.

Jackson is president of The Land Insitute, based in Salina, Kansas. His writings include papers and books. His most recent work – The Virtues of Ignorance: Complexity, Sustainability, and the Limits of Knowledge – was co-edited with William Vitek and released by the University of Kentucky Press in 2008. Jackson received his bachelor’s degree from Kansas Wesleyan, his master’s from the University of Kansas and his Ph.D. from North Carolina State University. In the November 2005 issue, Smithsonian named Jackson one of “35 Who Made a Difference.”

The work of the Land Institute has been featured in The Atlantic Monthly, Audubon, National Geographic, Time Magazine, the MacNeil-Lehrer News Hour, and National Public Radio’s All Things Considered.