Mount Pulaski Courthouse to celebrate Lincoln's Birthday with Harriet Tubman as its special guest

[January 31, 2015]  MOUNT PULASKI - Kathryn M. Harris will portray Harriet Tubman at the Mount Pulaski Courthouse on Saturday, Feb.7, as the Mount Pulaski Courthouse Foundation celebrates Abraham Lincoln’s Birthday.

Harris is Library Services Director at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library in Springfield, Illinois. Harriet Tubman was a former slave and a conductor on the Underground Railroad. Harris has portrayed Tubman and other historical characters for several years.

On Feb.7, the Courthouse will be open from noon to 4 p.m. The main program will be at 1 p.m. Everyone will be greeted by Abraham and Mary Lincoln. Indoor games and craft activities for Lincoln’s Birthday and Valentine’s Day will be available for children from Noon to 3:30 p.m.

Mike and Jennifer Richner of Hilltop Catering will again donate Mary Lincoln’s famous cake. A new addition to the refreshments will Abram Lincoln’s favorite: apple pie. Refreshments will also be available from Noon to 3:30 p.m. The birthday committee urges everyone to come and honor Abraham Lincoln whose presence has made Mount Pulaski and Central Illinois famous throughout the world.

Kathryn Harris is a native of Carbondale. She is a graduate of Southern Illinois University at Carbondale and then the University of Illinois-Graduate School of Library and Information Services, Urbana. She has held positions at the Illinois State Library, the Southern Illinois University School of Medicine Library, the Florida International University Library, the Lincoln Library: Springfield’s Public Library, and the Illinois State Historical Library which became the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library (ALPL). She will be retiring from the ALPL at the end of March, 2015.

In September, 2012, Kathryn Harris was honored and humbled to introduce “Harriet” to participants at the Annual Leadership Conference sponsored by the Congressional Black Caucus in Washington, D.C. In September, 2013, “Harriet” participated in the Mentoring Summit sponsored the National Alliance of Faith and Justice in Washington, DC.

The Mt Pulaski Courthouse Foundation was founded in 2011 to raise funds to care for the Courthouse building and to plan programs to attract visitors to become aware of history. Currently, the Foundation is working to raise Abe’s Million- a million dollars to repair structural and other problems in the building. Learn more at mountpulaskihistoriccourthouse.org

[Barbara Stroud-Borth]