Tuesday, September 09, 2008
Journalism major to make Lincoln's journey down river to New Orleans
 Casey McCoy, a USI journalism major, sets off Tuesday on a journey that Abraham Lincoln took in 1828. “Lincoln’s Journey of Remembrance,” a flatboat trip down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers from Rockport, Indiana, to New Orleans, Louisiana, reenacts a trip Lincoln made as a teen. Lincoln lived in Spencer County, Indiana, from the age of 7 to 21. A merchant paid him $24 to haul a load of produce from Rockport to New Orleans. In 1828, the trip took three months. In 2008, with high-powered motors, the trip is expected to take 27 days, making stops in eight states and 18 cities along the way. "Lincoln's Journey of Remembrance" is a joint effort between the Spencer County Visitors Bureau, Spencer County Regional Chamber of Commerce, Think Lincoln, Inc., and the Indiana Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission in honor of the Lincoln Bicentennial in February 2008. As an intern with the Spencer County Visitors Bureau, McCoy will assist in public relations, coordination, and logistics, and will maintain a blog about the voyage at www.LincolnsJourney.org. He’ll also portray Lincoln, who shared his height (6’ 4”) and his birthday (February 12). (While Lincoln would have been 200, McCoy will turn 23.) During the trip, he will alternate between riding the flatboat and driving a support vehicle that will meet the flatboat at points along the way. “My job is to help set up the promotions tents and educate people about Lincoln’s life and Spencer County,” he said. “I get to share stories about when Lincoln was a young man in Spencer County and tell people things they may not know about him, like his first slave encounter was on this trip when he saw a slave auction in New Orleans. That was where he developed his first anti-slavery sentiment.” In order to keep up with his studies, McCoy will take online courses and has arranged for independent study credit for the internship. A Bosse High School graduate, he is the son of Mark and Martha McCoy of Evansville. The flatboat will stop in Evansville at 8 a.m. Wednesday and be on display until 1 p.m. Thursday at Dress Plaza. Wendy Knipe Bredhold News & Information Services wkbredhold@usi.edu or 812/461-5259 |
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