PREV ARTICLE
NEXT ARTICLE
FULL ISSUE
PREV FULL ISSUE
V11 2008 INDEX
E-SYLUM ARCHIVE
GROUP HOPES TO BRING LINCOLN COLLECTION TO WASHINGTON
In an earlier article, Dick Johnson alerted us to the
status of the Lincoln Museum in Fort Wayne, IN. The owner of the museum,
Lincoln Financial Group, has been seeking a new home for the collection.
Some forty proposals have been put forth, one of which was discussed in a
Washington Post article thie week. -Editor
Four major Washington
institutions are jointly pursuing an extensive collection of materials
related to Abraham Lincoln and his times with hopes of bringing it to the
capital. The Library of Congress, the National Museum of American History, Ford's Theatre and President Lincoln's Cottage have formed a partnership to obtain the collection of the privately owned Lincoln Museum in Fort Wayne, Ind. The museum is closing next week after 77 years of operation.
Washington "is a natural place" for the museum's collection, said John Sellers, a Lincoln specialist at the Library of Congress. "It is where Lincoln became famous and made his mark. It is a natural place because the assassination happened here. It is a natural place because of the wealth of material related to Lincoln and the assassination."
"There really isn't any group that can match the visitorship and financial stability of the Washington group," Sellers said.
The foundation board plans to narrow the proposals in the fall, invite the finalists to meet with the curators in Fort Wayne, and then make site visits to the competing groups. Moser declined to talk about the applicants. "They ranged from the small, not-for-profit institutions who are interested in one or two items to the nationally known institutions," she said.
The museum's collection includes a signed copy of the Emancipation Proclamation and a signed copy of the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery in the United States. The museum has a mock office, with an original desk, reading glasses and inkwell. The furniture includes a Gardner Gallery chair, seen in some of the familiar photographs of the president. The museum also owns Lincoln's leather portfolio wallet, a bronze life mask, campaign medals, his shawl and a lock of his hair.
The artifacts include 350 documents signed by Lincoln, as well as thousands of 19th-century prints and photographs, and 18,000 rare books and pamphlets. The collection's value has been estimated at $20 million.
To read the complete article, see: Group Hopes to Bring Lincoln Collection to Washington (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/24/AR2008062401472.html)
Wayne Homren, Editor
The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization promoting numismatic literature. See our web site at coinbooks.org.
To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, write to the Editor at this address: whomren@gmail.com
To subscribe go to: https://my.binhost.com/lists/listinfo/esylum
All Rights Reserved.
NBS Home Page
Contact the NBS webmaster
