Lincoln Home to present play about Mary Lincoln's divided family

[July 08, 2013]  SPRINGFIELD -- To commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, there will be a performance at the Lincoln Home Visitor Center of "Divided: Mary Lincoln and Emilie Todd Helm: Divided Families. Divided Loyalties. Divided Country." Superintendent Dale Phillips announced that the play is scheduled for 2 p.m. Sunday in the center's Theater 1.

This is a free program open to the public.

Visitors attending the program will see how different views about Civil War issues divided a family, in this case the family of first lady Mary Todd Lincoln. Born into the aristocratic Todd family of Kentucky 18 years apart, stepsisters Mary Lincoln and Emilie Helm find themselves and their family at the center of the war, with Mary as the wife of the president of the United States and Emilie as the wife of a Confederate general. In this performance, Mary Lincoln, played by Valerie Gugala, and Emilie Helm, played by Gina Payne, will discuss their relationship with each other and to Mr. Lincoln, as the play follows them from Lexington, Ky., to Springfield, Ill., to Washington, D.C.

The Visitor Center at the Lincoln Home National Historic Site is at 426 S. Seventh St. in downtown Springfield. Parking is available in the parking lot south of the center. For more information about the performance, contact the Lincoln Home National Historic Site at 217-391-3221 or visit www.nps.gov/liho.

[Text from Lincoln Home National Historic Site news release]