Lincoln Museum and Library

 

All I can say is wow. Several of our friends recommended that we come here and boy were they right. The museum sits across the street from the library. We started with the museum We were excited to be offered free entry if we could show that we had been vaccinated.  Because this is not a national park site it is run by the state of Illinois and they collect all the fees.  

The museum is staffed by a large number of older volunteers who are all very knowledgeable.  The museum has two theaters  - one showing a movie on his life and the other which is actually part of the library - shows a holographic movie that explains why historians study artifacts and memorabilia.  Both movies are excellent. 

There are two main galleries that walk you through Lincoln’s early years and then another that walks you through his White House years. All exhibits are curated to remind visitors that he was a humble man and not the martyr that he has come to be known as.  One of the most clever presentations was a mock current day election night commentary taped by my all time favorite political analyst Tim Russert  (filmed  shortly before he died) doing a play by play on the four candidates in the primary trying to get the nomination to run for president in 1860.  

All of the museum was excellent but our favorite exhibit may have been the traveling Illinois exhibit that was featured in the Illinois gallery.  It showcased many of the musical giants - in all genres of music- who were either born in the state or who moved to Illinois as children.  I think we spent close to two hours in this exhibit. If you are near Springfield this summer try and “listen” to this exhibit.  Yep they hand out sanitized headphones so you can listen.

We asked about visiting the Libray but it is closed to all except those doing research. The Lincoln library is run by the state of Illinois unlike all the other presidential libraries that are operated by the US Archives.