Our exhibition, The Genesis of Republicanism: The Birth and Growth of the Grand Old Party, 1854-1872 will provide the occasion and setting for a scholarly symposium to be held at the Library Company on Saturday, October 28, 2000. A select group of historians will present their original papers, each exploring an important dimension of the party’s character and consequence. Supported by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, the intent of the symposium is to present a wide and varied canvas of party formation, growth and meaning during the Civil War Era. The papers will be compiled in a book after the symposium, in revised form.