In Honor of Lincoln’s B-Day

by Mike Murray

Seeing as tomorrow is Lincoln’s 200th birthday and a state holiday, I figured that I would compile some events and stories that honor Lincoln and his legacy to save time for those Lincoln lovers out there. Also, for history buffs I have some links to web pages with Lincoln quotes



Here are some events that will honor Lincoln tomorrow: (Links will provide further information on the even)

* For two minutes at noon on Thursday bells will ring from church spires, government buildings and campus carillon towers in across the entire state in honor of Lincoln.

* Springfield will surely have many parties in Lincoln’s honor, but the hottest ticket in town is a banquet sponsored by IL Democrats. The banquet begins at 6:30 on Thursday and will take place at the Crown Plaza Hotel Thursday. President Obama will give the keynote speech. By hottest ticket in town I mean u can’t get one… the event sold out in December.

* For those to the right of the isle who still wish to celebrate Lincoln’s birth and rub elbows with some IL pols, Sangamon County Republicans will host former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee at the Prairie State Convention for lunch.

* The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum has been celebrating all week, but tomorrow will be especially busy for them including: a Lincoln Bicentennial Luncheon at 11:30, a Lincoln Bicentennial Book Fair at 1, and will hold a celebratory 1860s Period Ball Thursday evening.

* The Chicago History Museum will honor Lincoln with a yearlong Lincoln Bicentennial exhibit that opens tomorrow. From 10am - 2pm the museum will kick-off the new exhibit with a celebration including: photo opportunities with Abe, musical performances, birthday cake, and Chicago-style hot dogs, courtesy of Vienna Beef. Also, from Thursday 12th to Sunday 15th admission will only cost 1 penny.

* From February 2009 through February 2010 the Newberry Library in Chicago will be hosting exhibitions, offering programs, and launching electronic resources, all free and open to the public. Additionally, all this week the library is displaying Lincoln objects and documents from its collection. This exhibit ends February 16. Among items on display is a copy of Abraham Lincoln's First Inaugural, published just four days after the new president delivered it, an autobiography, sheet music, and a calligraphic rendition of the Emancipation Proclamation as a Lincoln memorial after the President had died. If historical documents on Lincoln is your fetish, be sure to catch the exhibit "With Malice Toward None: The Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Exhibition" when it comes to Chicago later this year. This exhibit, in town from Oct. 10 through Dec. 19, includes artifacts from the Library of Congress.

Just to throw a bone to anyone in D.C tomorrow….

* Thursday, the Library of Congress will kick-off a major exhibition, “With Malice Toward None: The Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Exhibition”. The event is open to the public from 5pm to 9pm on the second floor of the Library’s Thomas Jefferson Building at 10 First Street S.E., Washington D.C. and will remain open during normal hours, 8:30am – 4:30pm, through May 9, 2009. After May 9th, the event will depart on a tour of 5 cities, including Chicago (see Newberry Library above). This exhibit will have some major historical documents, as the Library of Congress describes it:

The exhibition will draw on the vast and varied collections of Lincoln material in the Library and will include letters, photographs, political cartoons, period engravings, speeches, and artifacts. The actual grammar book studied by Lincoln in his effort to master English, the notes he prepared in advance of his debates with Senator Stephen Douglas, and the personal scrapbook he assembled of newspaper clippings of the debates bring this iconic figure to life.

* The Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission, created by Congress, has several prominent events in D.C. tomorrow. For example, legislators will gather at 8am for a birthday tribute and a solemn wreath-laying at the Lincoln Memorial. President Barack Obama has been invited to commemorate the 16th president and Sen. Durbin will preside. Also, at the conclusion of this event, Speaker Pelosi will host a special joint Congressional tribute to President Lincoln in the Capitol Rotunda at 11:30. Tickets are available at the Capitol.


Here are some articles and news stories that honor Lincoln’s legacy and pay tribute to his birthday.

* Lynn Sweet’s Sun-Times blog has a transcript of Sen. Durbin’s keynote speech at the Bicentennial Commission Dinner in celebration of Lincoln’s Legacy:

In December 1859, at the request of an Illinois attorney active in his presidential campaign, Abraham Lincoln wrote a modest, two-page autobiography. He sent it off to his supporter with a note that read, "There is not much of it, for the reason, I suppose, that there is not much of me."

History has proved otherwise.

Lincoln is the central figure in our history -- the one truly indispensible American. His leadership and unyielding commitment to the principles enshrined in our Declaration of Independence not only preserved the Union, but created a new nation, as he said, "worthy of the saving."

Surrounded by reminders of Lincoln

We cannot escape history, Lincoln told us. And I cannot escape Lincoln.

* Scott Reeder discusses Lincoln’s significance to State of Illinois in his Column in The Daily Journal:

Other states have nicknamed themselves after their crops, heritage or natural attributes.

Illinois, on the other hand, is the only one that identifies itself with a person -- thanks to state Sen. Fred Hart of Streator who in 1955 sponsored legislation designating the state as the "Land of Lincoln."

Here in Springfield, Lincoln has been given almost messianic qualities -- Preserver of the Union, Liberator of the Slaves.

In many ways, Lincoln is the glue that holds together the state's identity.

* The Telegraph Herald has a piece praising Lincoln for his courage as a political leader:

Today's leaders could take a page from Lincoln's book in that he surrounded himself with the most knowledgeable and talented people -- many of opposing political parties. That, he believed, gave him a better perspective from which to govern and connected him to all Americans -- not just those who agreed with him….

These days, acts of political courage are rare. Politicians seem to worry as much about raising money and getting re-elected as addressing the problems facing the nation. We remember this week the example Lincoln set for politicians and for individuals. May we honor him by striving to emulate his attributes.

* The AP did a very brief article on new stamps released by the post office to commemorate the occasion:

Four new postage stamps featuring Abraham Lincoln were released today to help mark the famed president's 200th birthday.

The 42-cent stamps show Lincoln as rail splitter, a lawyer, a politician and president.

For those who wish to learn more about these stamps and their significance or if you just want to see what they look like, check out the press release from the U.S. Postal Service.

* The Tribune has a short piece with some general praise…

New pennies and stamps have been announced to depict his life. From coast to coast, Americans have planned observances ranging from making his portrait out of Post-it Notes to rededicating the Lincoln Monument. Fans from preschools to penitentiaries have sent thousands of birthday cards to his Old State Capitol address in Springfield.

Lincoln was always a popular president, but the current intrigue stems at least partly from the attentions of the newest chief executive, experts say. Barack Obama repeatedly emulated Lincoln during his campaign and even borrowed his inaugural title, "New Birth of Freedom," from the Gettysburg Address.

* The American Enterprise Institute has a very well done, and lengthy, article on Lincoln that gives special attention to his abilities as a writer and poet:

I earlier attributed our extraordinary interest in Lincoln, and especially our esteem for him, partly to what he said and how he said it. He was surely a great writer and speaker of words; in my judgment, the greatest. As I said on another occasions, he was (and is) our national poet. In saying this, I referred initially--because of their emotional appeal--to some of his private letters, the one to Mrs. Bixby, for instance, or my favorite, the letter of condolence to the teen-aged Fanny McCullough, whose father, a Lincoln friend from Illinois, had been killed in battle. But I know no better way to demonstrate his poetic gifts, or the awesome beauty of his words, than by quoting the closing paragraph of his First Inaugural Address, March 4, 1861.

Just for fun, here is a a youtube depiction of what a 1864 Re-elect Lincoln campaign commercial would say:


Finally, for those history nerds out there (takes one to know one of course) here is a few web pages listing famous Lincoln Quotes.

* http://showcase.netins.net/web/creative/lincoln/speeches/quotes.htm

* http://www.topicsites.com/abraham-lincoln/quotes.htm


* http://home.att.net/~rjnorton/Lincoln78.html

* http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/a/abraham_lincoln.html