Norwich – The Norwich Historical Society will host a lecture and presentation April 7 on Lafayette S. Foster, the Civil War-era U.S. Senator from Norwich who served as acting vice president after President Abraham Lincoln’s assassination.

The program is the 2015 William B. Stanley Lecture Series, which honors the historical society founder and longtime president William B. Stanley.

Matthew Warshauer, professor of history at Central Connecticut State University, and his graduate student Kristin Steeves will present the program “Lafayette S. Foster: A Principled Stand Against the Slave Power” at 7 p.m. April 7 at the Slater Auditorium at Norwich Free Academy. Suggested donation is $5. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. for light refreshments.

Warshauer, co-chairman of the Connecticut Civil War Commemoration Commission, will discuss Foster’s life and his views on slavery, compromise and the Union. The author of four books, he is a specialist on 19th-century political and constitutional history and has written extensively on Andrew Jackson, the early republic and Connecticut’s role in the American Civil War.

Warshauer is helping to coordinate activities across the state to focus on the importance and lasting legacies of Connecticut’s involvement in the Civil War.

Steeves is a full-time history student at Central Connecticut State University, where she is finishing her degree in secondary education. Steeves is also very active in working with the state Department of Education to implement new social studies lessons.

For more information and other society events, go to www.norwichhistoricalsociety.org or the society’s Facebook page. Or email events@norwichhistoricalsociety.org for more information.