About the Program
James Kelly (1855 - 1933) was an artist and sculptor of public monuments who had a life long fascination with the Civil War. Determined to create a realistic statue of President Lincoln, the artist set out to interview everyone he could find who had known the 16th president. James Kelly also interviewed many Civil War generals for various public art projects. Though Kelly never completed his Lincoln sculpture, he kept thousands of pages of notes; these notes were discovered in the New York Historical Society by author and editor William Styple. In this program Mr. Styple tells stories of Lincoln found in the Kelly papers. Mr. Kelly is preceded by Lincoln scholar Frank Williams, who discusses the history of books about Lincoln and why new things can be learned about the 16th president.
William Styple
William Styple has edited and written many books about the civil war including, "The Little Bugler", "Writing and Fighting the Civil War: 500 Union Soldier Letters from the Battlefield", and "Writing and Fighting the Confederate War: The Letters of Peter Alexander Confederate War Correspondent," and "Generals in Bronze." He lives in Kearny, New Jersey and is president of Belle Grove Publishing Company.