Our one stop today was the Lincoln Museum in Springfield, Illinois. We had planned to visit the Lincoln Library as well, but it was closed.
When you enter the Lincoln Museum, you are greeted by the entire family. They are prepared to pose for a photo with all visitors.
The museum is laid out so that you can see several different phases of Abraham Lincoln’s life. The easiest way to cover the entire museum is to start with his childhood.
We started at the beginning. His first home was a log cabin. The main floor was a combination bedroom, kitchen, and family room. There was a set of pegs on the wall in the corner to provide access for the children to get to the attic where they slept. The room was lit as if it was evening. We all know Lincoln read by the fireplace at night. What was not clear about that was he was probably sitting next to his parent’s bed while they were sleeping.
In his adult life, he had many different jobs. One of them was running a small store.
After he became an attorney, he accumulated enough wealth to live in a nice home in Springfield Illinois. It was much different from the cabins he lived in as a child.
Lincoln was a very disciplined attorney. He knew the law. His practice flourished. He had to travel a lot to cover the circuit court route. He could be gone for several weeks at a time. In spite of that, or maybe because of that, he did not teach his children discipline.
Because of the time he had spent traveling around Illinois as an attorney in the circuit court, Lincoln was well known in the state. He ran for the United States Senate against Steven Douglas. While he lost the election, he became even more famous for his eloquent speeches against slavery. Some people say that the fame he gained was more valuable than the election he lost.
The 1860 presidential election had four candidates running. Lincoln did not get a majority of the votes, but he did manage to win the electoral college because he won in the highly populated states in the north.
There was an almost life sized version of an entry into the White House inside the museum.
The actual interior was nothing like the actual White House though. There were some interesting displays about the social life in Washington DC at the beginning of Lincoln’s term. It made you realize things have not changed much in the last 160 years. They also had a mock up of the 1860s White House kitchen. That is one place that has changed significantly since that time.
There were two different movies in the museum. One focused on the Civil War. It combined the war progress with the politics of the time. The movie showed that while the North had a clear advantage in wealth and economic power, the war was a vary big challenge for both sides.
The other movie was about the purpose and activities of running the museum. It was produced by some people from Disney. It was informative and entertaining. It also has a well performed, unique ending.
The remainder of the museum has displays outlining the personal side of life in the Lincoln White House. It covered the death of one of his sons, the policy debates about the war, the actual battles, and the horrible loss of life.
Finally, there is a display from Ford’s Theater about the assassination. A live person recounts the eye witness testimony from one of the people at the theater that night.
Finally, they outline how the assassination and lengthy mourning process for the nation converted Lincoln from a man who barely had any support near the end into a national hero and martyr who had done no wrong.
The museum was very interesting.