Lincoln Heritage Museum Celebrates Lincoln’s Birthday and Honors “The Man Who Would Become President”

 

[February 14, 2024] 

One of the town of Lincoln’s local gems, the Lincoln Heritage Museum, celebrated Abraham Lincoln’s birthday on February 12 with free admission to the museum as well as coffee, muffins, and cookies in the gift shop.

Museum director Ron Keller dressed the part of Honest Abe and welcomed guests to the museum where they could sign a birthday card for Lincoln and enter a drawing to win a book about his life.

Located on the former Lincoln College campus, the Lincoln Heritage Museum features a collection of over 100 original Lincoln-affiliated artifacts including a lock of Lincoln’s hair and a book of Shakespeare that he carried with him on his travels as a circuit rider. The collection also includes a lock of his son Tad’s hair, who died at age 12 while the family was living in the White House, and a chair that belonged to Tad on which he had carved his name.

On display are also other books and furniture owned and used by Lincoln and jewelry, china, a mourning fan, and handbag belonging to Mary Todd Lincoln. There are also Civil War artifacts on display including a fife and drum used during battle, a rifle, a sword with its original scabbard, and a canteen belonging to a Confederate soldier who traded with a Union soldier at Vicksburg for the Union canteen full of coffee.

The museum offers information about Lincoln’s childhood and his Illinois years, as well as his presidential and Civil War years. The primary focus, however, says Keller, is on “his pre-presidential years and the man who would become president.” Lincoln’s life before he was elected president connects him to Illinois, and the museum proudly displays banners and flags made locally to support his political campaign. Keller says that Lincoln was “a grassroots candidate and we have some of those mementos.”

Keller can also convey to visitors the moving story of Lincoln’s attachment to his favorite poem, “Oh, Why Should the Spirit of Mortal Be Proud” by Scottish poet William Knox. (The poem may be read here: https://www.
loc.gov/resource/rbpe.1580380a/?st=text.)
 

Lincoln read it as a young man while living in New Salem and committed the 14-stanza poem to memory. Throughout his life, especially during times when he was experiencing “melancholy” (what would probably be termed depression today), Lincoln would write out the poem to comfort himself. There are only two known copies of the poem that Lincoln wrote in his own hand, and Lincoln Heritage Museum is proud to have one of them in its possession.

From clues on the document, Keller speculates that this copy may have been written while Lincoln was in the White House, perhaps even after the death of his beloved son, Tad. Although this document is not on public display, LDN received permission to present photographs of this rare document. Not only is the document written out by Lincoln, pencil corrections he made, presumably after writing it from memory, are clearly visible.

The second floor of the museum features an immersive audio-visual experience of Lincoln’s life. It concludes with reflection on principles that Lincoln valued and lived in his own life: honesty, empathy, humility, civility, perseverance, courage, intellect, vision, responsibility, and leadership. The exhibit and the museum’s website further explore Lincoln’s commitment to developing character: https://museum.lincolncollege.edu/
discover/alccd/profile/abraham-lincoln-
character-qualities.  Visitors to the museum may also want to peruse the gift shop which features a variety of books, including children’s books, as well as shirts, postcards, statuary, and other souvenirs.

Lincoln Heritage Museum had its beginnings in 1944 with the initial donation from Judge Lawrence Stringer, an alumnus of Lincoln University, as it was called at the time. His donation was displayed in the Lincoln Room of Chapel Hall which served as the Administration Building. This building burned in 1969 and the Johnson Center for the Performing Arts was built on the site, so the collection moved to the McKinstry library building. The current museum space was purpose built in 2014.

The museum collection grew over the years due to the efforts of the Lincoln College Board of Trustees and their connections with Ralph Newman and Jim Hickey. The museum was also one of the only places collecting and curating Lincoln artifacts during the mid to late 20th century. There was no other Lincoln museum with the exception of Fort Wayne, Indiana, so families and collectors wishing to donate gravitated to Lincoln College as one of the only places collecting at the time, including Robert Todd Lincoln Beckwith, Lincoln’s last surviving descendent. The museum currently holds approximately 20,000 items which counts individual documents, photographs, and books, as well as other artifacts.

Keller states that the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum (ALPLM) in Springfield is not in competition with the Lincoln Heritage Museum. “We have the same general themes, but a different way to tell the story. Some of the things we have are really unique.”

In fact, the ALPLM sends volunteers to the Lincoln Heritage Museum, as well as other Lincoln sites in Illinois, so that they may better direct visitors to the wealth of Lincoln connections in Illinois. Keller said of the Lincoln Heritage Museum, “We focus on his character. Not a lot of museums do that. We can look to his example and we can change our own lives. We do that here. It’s a noble purpose. Lincoln was not perfect, but we can learn a lot from him.”

Some area residents may not realize that although Lincoln College is closed, the Lincoln Heritage Museum continues regular operations. Tour groups and families from out of state and even from out of the country make a point to visit this unique museum which is part of the Abraham Lincoln National Heritage Area ( https://www.lookingforlincoln.org/ ). The museum is open Tuesday through Friday from 9 a.m.- 4 p.m. and Saturdays from 1-4 p.m. For more information please call [phone] or visit https://museum.lincolncollege.edu/.

LDN highly recommends setting aside an hour or two and making a point to visit this local treasure.

[Stephanie Hall]