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Recognizing the importance of Abraham Lincoln to the Humanities, several members of our faculty chose to visit Lincoln sites in the Springfield, Illinois, area on 29 February and 1 March 2008, just a couple of weeks after the official beginning of Lincoln Bicentennial events around the country.
On Friday morning we first visited the law offices of Lincoln and his law partner William Herndon, which occupied the second floor of a building on the square across from the Capitol. Then we visited the Old State Capitol itself where Lincoln served in the state legislature—in the large hall reserved for House members remains Lincoln’s own desk; in this room Lincoln delivered his famous speech about a house divided cannot stand. And here Lincoln lay in state just before entombment.
That afternoon, we toured the Lincoln home in Springfield, where Lincoln and his family lived for about 14 years before Lincoln moved to Washington, D. C., as President. This home is a National Historic Site managed by park rangers, and our docent-ranger told us many entertaining stories about the Lincolns in this house (the only home Lincoln ever owned). In late afternoon we drove to the cemetery to visit Lincoln’s tomb, a huge monument with an obelisk and four bronze sculptures outside. Inside are the remains of Lincoln, his wife, and three of the four sons (Robert is buried in Arlington National Cemetery).
After dinner, the historian for the Lincoln home and surrounding properties, Tim Townsend, treated our faculty to a special presentation on historic preservation in the Lincoln neighborhood, particularly regarding houses standing when Lincoln lived there in the 1850s.
Saturday morning we devoted to the Abraham Lincoln Museum, a remarkable combination of 19th-century artifacts and exhibits and the latest of technologies. Everyone considered this museum a highlight of the trip.
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Those of us participating included Leisa Belleau, Sherry Darrell, Bill Graves, Larry Gries, Allen Helmstetter, Kenneth Johnson, Greg Leach, Lisa Nicholas, Paul Odney, Paul Plath, Marty Smith, Robin West, Emily Wilson. Accompanying us were William Bartelt, Lincoln historian and author, and Kathryn Bartelt, librarian. Mr. Bartelt came as our Lincoln expert, providing us with timelines, speeches, masses of information about Lincoln and his career; answering our questions; and adding to stories and facts told by docents.
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