Saturday, February 7, 2009

A Multimedia Celebration Of Abraham Lincoln's 200th Birthday

We're on the cusp of Abraham Lincoln's 200th birthday, and to celebrate that auspicious anniversary February 12th, there is no shortage of Lincoln articles, programs, plays, you name it.
Some of the choice items I have linked below, so please peruse...
I'm most looking forward to "Looking For Lincoln", airing on PBS February 11th at 8PM. You can also watch the bulk of the show for free online. I'm waiting for the big screen experience.
American Experience on PBS on Monday night is all about Lincoln's assassination.
Here's a new play focusing on Lincoln and the re-opening of Ford's Theatre.
Speaking of Ford's Theatre, the NY Times has a wonderful review of its reopening here. Don't miss the slide show that goes along with it!
The Huntington Museum and Gardens in Pasadena, CA just opened a new exhibition called "The Last Full Measure of Devotion: Collecting Abraham Lincoln".
Along with the photos, TV shows, lectures, and exhibits about Lincoln, there has also been a slew of new books. A great review and compendium of these titles is here.
The Abraham Lincoln Bookstore is also getting in the act with a host of live webchats with various Lincoln authors.
The blogosphere brings us (among hundreds of others) 21st Century Abe. A unique take, no question.
Enjoy!

2 comments:

twroten said...

Great blog! Here is some info on an exhibition we have opening on Thursday. Also, check out info on our major exhibition Grant and Lee In War and Peace at https://www.nyhistory.org/web/grantandlee/

Feel free to share information about either to your readers. Thanks!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

RARE AND IMPORTANT LINCOLN MANUSCRIPTS GO ON
DISPLAY AT THE NEW-YORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY, FEBRUARY 12

Abraham Lincoln in His Own Words Is Latest Presentation in the
Lincoln Year, Commemorating the Bicentennial of the Sixteenth President

New York, NY – A draft of the epoch-making “House Divided” speech, stirring notes for an address against slavery, a telegram encouraging General Ulysses S. Grant at a turning point in the Civil War, and the resolution for the Thirteenth Amendment bearing the President’s signature: These are among the rare and important letters, papers and official documents in Abraham Lincoln’s own hand that will be on display, as the New-York Historical Society presents, in partnership with the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, the exhibition Abraham Lincoln in His Own Words.

Opening on February 12, 2009 (the 200th anniversary of Lincoln’s birth) and remaining on view through July 12, Abraham Lincoln in His Own Words is the latest offering in the Historical Society’s Lincoln Year of exhibitions, lectures, events and public programs commemorating the bicentennial. The Lincoln Year will culminate in the Historical Society’s major exhibition for 2009, Lincoln and New York (opening October 2), for which the distinguished Lincoln scholar Harold Holzer has served as chief historian.

“Nothing matches the immediacy of approaching a great figure through authentic objects,” stated Dr. Louise Mirrer, President and CEO of the New-York Historical Society. “Visitors to Abraham Lincoln in His Own Words will experience this thrill of physical presence, as they view Abraham Lincoln’s life and career in the original, from his period as an attorney and legislator in Illinois through his assassination and its aftermath.”

“As Lincoln begins his third century in American memory, we hope these documents will help illuminate his unique contribution to our country’s history,” stated James G. Basker, President of the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.

In addition to seeing handwritten public documents by Lincoln, visitors will also encounter his more personal side, in letters to a struggling school friend of his eldest son and to his wife Mary (the latter written days before his death). Also on view are first edition texts, including a signed lithograph of his Emancipation Proclamation, a broadside of his Second Inaugural Address distributed in 1865, and a copy of his First Inaugural Address as published in 1861 in the Chicago Tribune.

Lending dramatic context to these items are a variety of other remarkable period objects, such as photographs, prints, sculptures, testimonies, and more. Visitors will see a cast of Lincoln’s face made in 1860 by sculptor Leonard Volk; a photograph by Alexander Gardner of Lincoln and General McClellan in the field in 1862; a Currier & Ives print of the fall fo Richmond in 1865; and a letter of condolence to Mary Todd Lincoln from Frederick Douglass, written in August 1865. Rounding out the exhibition are the original artists’ models by Daniel Chester French for the Lincoln sculpture commissioned by Lincoln, Nebraska (1911) and for the colossal seated figure at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. (1916).

With the exception of the sculptures, all objects in the exhibition are drawn from the Gilder Lehrman Collection, which is on deposit at the New-York Historical Society. An accompanying illustrated book, Great Lincoln Documents: Historians Present Treasures from the Gilder Lehrman Collection, has been published by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, featuring essays by ten noted historians, including James McPherson, Allen Guelzo, David Blight, Richard Carwardine, and Harold Holzer.

Images available at http://www.nyhistory.org/press
Username: nyhistory
Password: pressroom

Mark said...

Thanks for the comment, glad you found my blog. I'll definitely take a look at the online resources.
I wrote a post about the Grant-Lee exhibit in October. My wife and I are going to try to make a trip out from CA to see it before it ends. Looks like a tremendous affair.
Here's the link: http://tipstorian.blogspot.com/2008/10/amazing-new-exhibit-grant-and-lee-in.html
Please enjoy the blog and share your insights!