School groups visit Lincoln Presidential Library for free
Lincoln’s birthday month brings last chance for free field trips this school year

[January 23, 2015]  SPRINGFIELD – The month of February brings Abraham Lincoln’s birthday, along with the final chance for school groups to make free visits to the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum during this school year.

School groups can visit the world-renowned museum free of charge in January and February, before a charge of $4 per student takes effect during the busy months of March through May. A visit now also means groups avoid the large crowds that fill the museum in the traditional field-trip months.

All Presidential Museum field trips are booked through the Springfield Convention and Visitors Bureau at www.visit-springfieldillinois.com/Group-Travel/Youth-Tours . Additional information is available by calling the Convention and Visitors Bureau at [phone]. If the weather becomes an issue on the day of a scheduled field trip, organizers can simply call the museum at [phone] to cancel.

This year is the 150th anniversary of the Civil War’s end and Lincoln’s death. It is also the tenth anniversary of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum. We have a long list of special events and activities planned for 2015. Get details at www.TenYearsLincoln.com.

The presidential library and museum uses a combination of rigorous scholarship and high-tech showmanship to immerse visitors in the life and times of Abraham Lincoln. Students can see ghosts come to life on stage, watch TV coverage of the 1860 Presidential election, roam through the Lincoln White House, experience booming cannons in a Civil War battle and come face to face with priceless original Lincoln artifacts.

The museum’s “Undying Words: Lincoln 1858-1865” exhibit explores the impact of Lincoln’s most famous speeches and offers an amazing array of artifacts, from shoes worn by slaves to rifles used in the Civil War to the bed where Lincoln died.

All teachers visiting with school groups receive a free teacher packet to help bring the museum experience back to their classrooms.

For more information about the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, visit www.presidentlincoln.gov.

[Chris Wills, Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum]