"We cannot escape history," Lincoln said in his 1862 December message to Congress.

The Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission is now engrossed in preparing its final report to Congress.  We are reviewing the programs, exhibits, endorsements, and Congressionally  "mandated" work such as collaboration with the Mint on four new penny "tails" and with the U S.Postal Service on stamps.  We are reviewing the extraordinary commemorations  in many of the 50 states. We expect that these will all be listed in the Final Report.

We are also reviewing the work of the 1909 centennial and the 1959 sesquicentennial.   The Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield commemorated 1909 with an exhibit detailing the Springfield race riots.  Commissioners and staff have read about the Eisenhower Era commemoration. In the midst of the the Cold War, the President spoke about Lincoln as a symbol of freedom and invoked the spirit of the citizens of the divided city of Berlin.

There is a great deal of Lincoln in Eisenhower's speeches on themes of freedom, justice, and equal rights. As president he insured the fair treatment of the Little Rock Nine.  And just possibly he paved the way for the Civil Rights Act.    

If we cannot escape history, the history we write today and the questions we ask of historians are greatly affected by the economic, social and political climate of today.  For a brief shining moment, many of us saw in the Inauguration of Barack Obama, the fruition of Lincoln's "unfinished work"   Many of the programs that the Commission and its foundation produced were focused on equal opportunity and its meaning today.  There were many tributes to Frederick Douglass.

The pain of the Great Recession also effected the Commemoration.  Historians and history readers asked about Lincoln's economic policies- about his relationship with Secretary of the Treasury Chase and his relationship with members of Congress. There were many "panics" in the period before the Civil War- public works programs were proposed mainly by Whigs and Lincoln was a Whig.

It was during the Civil War that of necessity the role of government greatly expanded:  the introduction of an income tax, the Morrill Act establishing the land grant colleges, an Immigration Act, extensive public works, and the Homestead Act.   Lincoln, according Robert Hormats, and his interesting book – The Price of Liberty: Paying for America's Wars from the Revolution to the War on Terror – stakes out a claim for Lincoln as the president who established the modern presidency.

Compassion is the word most often associated with Lincoln.  His economic policies were designed to lessen the burden on the poor. Tariffs were lowest on necessities and highest on luxuries. He provided funding for widows and orphans. 

The Commission commemorating the birth of a 19th century man has not escaped the history of our own time  Years from now when readers peruse the Final Report they will learn much about the state of the Union in 2009 and the concerns of its people.  Lincoln has withstood the test of time.  He is the man of the ages.

P.S.  Are there questions about Lincoln's economic philosophy and his economic policies during the Civil War that should be raised and studied?         

Late last week, I began with Judge Tommy Turner of Kentucky.  Here is a digest of our conversation:

EM:  Let's start with the 2008 event in Kentucky.  Did it set a tone for the remaining work of the commission? Was it a success in Kentuckian terms?

TT:  It was a great success.  It generated much publicity as a kick off for the future.  The first day was highlighted with a conference – Doris Kearns Goodwin's presence made a difference.  The questioners in the audience were genuine and contributed to the validity of the event. The local groups and organizations worked effectively with the staff of the national commission - but the heavy lifting was done by the staff and the commission from D.C. 

The event at the Kennedy Center a year later was a Kentucky-only event and not appropriate for the national enterprise – no hard feelings on either side from his judgment.

EM:  What role did you play on the commission in addition to spearheading the Kentucky events and celebration?

TT:  Frequently a middleman or an arbiter reconciling various viewpoints or personal perspectives.  This is a role that is needed for a commission's ultimate success.    

EM:  When you talk about the commission's success – and from the outside looking in the Kentucky event was a success – what would you repeat and/or do differently?

TT:  I would not repeat the ice storm [that canceled the outdoor events at the Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Site on February 12, 2008.] 

EM:  Did we need those with national experience in fundraising on the Commission?

TT:  It was not within my purview to seek a larger commission with members who understood the need to fund-raise on a national basis.  Local efforts – to raise funds for Knob Creek, for example, is easier – we appeal to local pride and know each other well.  A national effort is more complicated and takes much longer.  The commission took three years or so to get started and many of us did not understand how long it would take to get our feet planted.   But we did overcome difficulties.  Once we knew each other it was just as effective to hold telephone meetings and thereby save travel funds.

We missed firm executive decisions in the beginning.  If we would have started the Town Halls earlier, for example, they might have been more effective in building broader coalitions. Too many of the Lincoln audiences have been white and older.  We need to look to the future to preserve the legacy of freedom and justice.  Lincoln is the icon who can cross all interest boundaries: military; agriculture; poetry; race; politics.  Recognizing this could make a difference in our curriculum in the schools.  It’s no secret that history is taking a back seat to reading comprehension, math and science.  In our next steps we can look to education offerings that integrate Lincoln into the total curriculum.

EM:  What advice would you offer to the Foundation based on your experience?

TT:  We have done a good job on education but need to work on how to get Lincoln into the schools beyond the great efforts of individual teachers. 

EM:  Like the National Teach In?

TT:  Yes. 

TT:  We need to continue and even accelerate our efforts to reach out to non-traditional audiences, where the future is.  We need to promote what Lincoln stood for – especially compassion.

EM:  At the recent Lincoln Forum in Gettysburg there were 300 strong Lincoln lovers.  How can we draw on their power to work with new Americans and younger groups?

TT:  I would need to think about this very large question.

TT:  This nation today is polarized as never before in my lifetime.  Class divisions from urban America have infected rural areas as well.  There is anger resulting from displacement.  We need a Lincoln to deal with these issues.

EM:  Do you have additional comments?  Are there areas/issues we have not covered?

TT:  I am proud to have served on the commission.  It has been one of the highlights of my life.  I cherish the friendships of the commissioners.  I believe we have planted some seeds that can grow to benefit the country.

I commend all short speechmakers, but especially when the assembled crowd must withstand the a numbing cold and pouring rain of a dispiriting Washington mid-November day.  I did not beat Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg short speech record time. I certainly did not approach his eloquence.  But the assembled young and old coin collectors were tolerant of my remarks about the meaning of the half-completed Capitol Dome that appears on the tails side of the new DC penny. They will remember that it was slaves and free black artisans who in the main built the Capitol.  And the treat for all was the new penny distributed by the Director of the United States Mint, Ed Moy.

Then I took Amtrak to Newark for a Town Hall. The three hours-plus provided time for reflection about the Newark Town Hall. I looked forward to hearing Eric Foner – an outstanding scholar whose articles in The Nation and his monographs prove to all that there is value in reading history. He is near completing a book on Lincoln and slavery.  What a complex subject, but without the Emancipation Proclamation we would surely not celebrate Lincoln's greatness.

I also looked forward to the Newark Town Hall as an opportunity to personally thank Prudential Financial's CEO John Strangfeld and its foundation director Mary O'Malley for Prudential's generous support of the Bicentennial's civic and education programs. 

The program on the humane city moderated by Commissioner and Newark native professor Jim Horton was nothing short of sensational.  All the speakers were powerful and original. Each in his/her own way urged youth not to return to passive acceptance of injustice but to work for change.

It was, however, the audience, students from Rutgers Newark and residents from every profession and the jobless and homeless too, who took my breath away. If Lincoln continues to talk to many, and he clearly does, it is because of his birth into intense poverty, ability to  overcome depression, his fight for education, and his entry into the "I made it" group.

There is pain, and intense poverty in Newark.  There is pride.  People continue to believe they can lift themselves out of poverty.  But how!

Everyone agreed, we need to move out of our comfort zones and meet with those unlike ourselves.  We need to organize our own Team of Rivals; get everyone involved to pursue a more perfect union with economic justice for all.

Sam Pitroda’s name may not be a household word in the United States or even in his home city of Chicago, but throughout India he is venerated as the man who is most responsible for the Indian communications revolution. According to the now legion stories about his rise to prominence, he somehow and with great audacity convinced the late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and then her son Rajiv, that he could insure India’s democracy, serve the poorest sectors of India – especially the rural areas – and truly build a nation out of many disparate part – through telecommunications.

Pitroda was not born into great family wealth.  He was schooled in Vallabh Vidyanagar, Gujarat, then completed his master’s in physics and electronics at Maharaja Sayajirao University in Vadodara.  Thereupon, winning a scholarship, he came to the United States and completed a master’s in physics and electrical engineering at Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago.

Upon graduation he worked at GTE, but soon formed his own company – Wescom.  The holder of more than 100 patents, he solidified his reputation as a telecom inventor and manager-producer.  In 1975 he invented the Electronic Diary, one of the earliest hand held computers.  He was also among the pioneers in digital telephone switching technology and mobile phones for emerging markets.
 
In 2005 India’s Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh appointed Pitroda to chair the National Knowledge Commission, an advisory body that recommends and directs reforms, focusing on: education, science and technology, agriculture, industry and e-governance.  The mission of the Commission is to:

• Build excellence in the educational system.
• Promote creation of technology laboratories.
• Improve the management of institutions engaged in Intellectual Property Rights.
• Promote knowledge applications in agriculture and industry.
• Promote the use of knowledge capabilities in making government an effective, transparent and accountable service provider to the citizen and promote widespread sharing of knowledge to maximize public benefit.
• Create more liberal arts colleges and public universities (now there are 350 -   1500 are planned by 2015).
• Synergize all of government’s e activities.

Why you ask:  Is Pitroda speaking at a conference which links the Lincoln educational heritage to the future of public land grant universities?  He, like Nehru, sees in the Lincoln legacy a paradigm for the future.  He believes the “consumption model is outdated.”  Great minds in the universities of the United States and Europe should focus on Asia and Africa.  Working in collaboration, new paths to prosperity for those who are at the bottom of the socio-economic pyramid can be found.  The land grant universities have played major roles in earlier biotech and agricultural revolutions.

Pitroda’s talk at the Morrill Conference is a challenge to the universities to husband scarce resources but use their technology for the betterment of all. India is expanding the number of its liberal arts and technical colleges; it will seek partnerships with the public and grant universities.

Pitoda’s restless mind is fastened on the endless possibilities of future collaborations.

Watch Sam Pitroda speak on Oct. 24, 12:00 PM

Morrill Conference
October 24, 2009 | 8:00 AM–5:30 PM
Illini Union
1401 West Green Street
Urbana, IL 61801

Morrill Act Exhibition
Krannert Art Museum
500 East Peabody Drive
Champaign, IL
Please use the Kinkead entrance.

Why did the Republican Party not whither away when the Whigs and many other parties did?  The answers are complicated and bear scrutiny.

On his way to a modicum of political rehabilitation, President Hoover spoke at the 1952 Republican Party convention in Chicago. “The Whig party,” he said with prescient  hindsight, “temporized and compromised on the issue of freedom for the Negro.  That party disappeared.  Shall the Republican party receive or deserve any better fate if it compromises upon the issue of freedom for all men.” 

Another Republican leader Senator Everett McKinley Dirksen, who had a long career in the House and the Senate from 1933 to 1969, when the Democratic Party was in the majority. He introduced over 140 pieces of civil rights legislation in his Congressional career. The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King and Roy Wilkins credited Dirksen with the heroic role in the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. 

At his funeral in 1969, Dirksen’s son-in-law, Senator Howard Baker delivered the eulogy.  He compared ‘EV’ to Lincoln.  “Both men understood with singular clarity that a great and diverse people do not speak with a singular voice and that adherence to a rigid ideology leaves little room for compromise and response to change”

Baker continued. EV had the “ability to compromise and change his position on an issue while never compromising his convictions.”

Who are the compromisers in both parties – Democratic and Republican – when the Congress is embroiled with substantive issues that divide the nation and beg for compromise? Beyond “where are the compromisers,” where is the spirit of compromise?

Two powerful and well-spoken columnists Tom Friedman in the New York Times and Don Wycliff in the Chicago Tribune have both asked this question recently. Wycliff states that he does not understand the party of Lincoln that cannot make peace with the outcome of the Civil War. Tom Friedman is fearful that vitriolic hateful language will provoke a madman as has happened too often in many nations. 

Both men urged the majority not to remain silent.

I, therefore, close on an optimistic note.  On Friday I joined a panel of activists and scholars, when Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. convened his Issues Forum at the Black Caucus Foundation meeting in Washington D.C.  The program, entitled “From Lincoln to Obama” attracted a large and engaged audience.  Many cited the similar personality traits between Lincoln and Obama.  Many noted that younger voters especially in the South and the West saw a more perfect union emerging rather than rigid regional divides.  Others noted that without a Lincoln and his successors there would not have been an Obama.

Kirwan knew that his roots and those of his family were in Maryland, where he had been a faculty member for 34 years, a department chair, provost, and president. When presented with an opportunity to become the third chancellor of the 13-campus university system in Maryland, he left the Buckeye state. 

President Bush appointed him to the board of advisers to historically black colleges and universities.
 
Chancellor Kirwan will speak at the University of Illinois on October 24-25 on President Obama’s call to increase the number of college graduates and to expand access to higher education, even at a time when state budgets for education have contracted significantly.  

The spirit of the 16th president hovers over the re-dedication of the Morrill Act at the Conference at the University of Illinois.  We are reminded that in the midst of Civil War 1862, Lincoln, true to his belief in the uppermost value of education in a democracy, signed into law the legislation that bears the name of Senator Morrill from Vermont.  The land grant colleges flourished from then on.

The Carnegie Corporation Academic Leadership award provides a $500,000 award to recipients for discretionary use in pursuit of higher education goals.  The award was announced yesterday (Sept. 21) by the Carnegie President, Vartan Gregorian, who’s own career as an educator was built on service and academics.

Alas he retired!  Email enabled us to keep in touch.  When the ALBC and its Foundation began to plan Town Hall meetings to explore Lincoln’s “unfinished work” – equality of opportunity – in ten different cities, I asked General Scott’s advice. He volunteered to participate in the second Town Hall on the USS Abraham Lincoln when it was docked in Everett, Washington.  The subject was Lincoln, the military, and leadership.

On board ship, he displayed exceptional ability to listen and then respond to sailors -enlisted and officers, men and women of all races and, I assume, creeds.  He was particularly sensitive to the women with their queries about leadership styles and how to succeed in a world still comprised mainly of men.   

Now he has told me that he is writing his first book, inspired by the sailors on the USS Abraham Lincoln.  The book is titled A. Lincoln: A Self-Help Guide to Success.  Who better than Lincoln to motivate us!  We can copy his patterns of communication and his style to build better relationships;   we can search for the humor in the boring and mundane; we can use the Bible as a resource for daily living even as agnostic non-church goers.; we can avoid being hurtful and destructive even when a serious reprimand is needed.  

A clue to Lincoln's leadership success, according to Scott, is his willingness to serve others – to help others achieve their goals.

Judging from the man’s multiple successes, there is much more to Donald Scott’s book.   I look forward to reading and learning.   

Let me tell you about Susan Dyer.

I met Susan Dyer on my first trip to Kentucky to plan what was to become known as the ice sculpted Bicentennial in Hodgenville, thanks to the intervention of Mother Nature.

Susan is a powerhouse with a great sense of humor. She is one tenacious lady with a mission – to restore the Judge Joseph Holt Home in Breckinridge.  Somehow she learned that I was an antiquarian – one who finds real passion in climbing ladders to see egg and dart molding up close.

When I saw the home it was … a pretty lady with a very dirty face.  Much clean up and great vision was necessary. She wrote grant after grant – to restore windows, flooring and walls – to Save America's Treasures and to every Congressman who had ever quoted Lincoln or whistled My Old Kentucky Home.

Daily she brought people to the house; we saw it through her eyes. We even imagined Judge Joseph Holt as she did – the man who might have succeeded Lincoln and carried out his "unfinished work."  Now she is writing a book about Judge Holt. His controversial role in the trial of the Lincoln conspirators might catapult the book to best-seller status.  You can see the progress on the Holt House Web site at www.heritage.ky 

“Town Halls Meetings” are much in the news as a proposed national health care policy has become a subject of intense public discussion.  Town Hall Meetings on TV news leads with raucous shouting matches and physical scuffles.   If these are accurate portrayals, public officials and their constituents have had little chance for a civil exchange of opinion.
 
Long before the “town hall meeting” became associated with the latest round of partisan politics surrounding health care reform, the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission and its Foundation had planned to conduct town hall meetings on the subject of race, freedom, and equality of opportunity.. With reference to the on-going tradition of town hall meetings in New England dating from colonial times, and in recognition of the troubled history of slavery and race relations everywhere, the ALBC saw Lincoln’s bicentennial as a genuine opportunity to discuss the evolution of Lincoln’s views on race.  Guided by Lincoln’s perspectives, applicable even today, we planned to hold a series of  discussions on the “unfinished work” on race and equal opportunity that lies before us as a people.

To date there have been five Town Hall Meetings – in Gettysburg, Washington, Detroit, Chicago, and on board the USS Abraham Lincoln.

As we approached the half way mark on the town hall meetings, the Fetzer Institute, which is the largest underwriter of the ALBC’s town halls initiative, convened a meeting of the THM planners from the 10 cities at their headquarters in Kalamazoo. Two days of intensive work from willing volunteers and committed scholars moved all of those present to find new ways to work together and to share resources.  As Charles Branham, educator and senior historian, DuSable Museum of African-American History said, we recognized we were becoming a “national movement.” 

Joan Flinspach, ALBC commissioner also attended the meeting.  So moved was she with the spirit of mutual support that she spontaneously composed a humorous poem dedicated to all who had worked to build the potential of a national town hall meeting movement

Now the effort to complete Lincoln’s unfinished work to heal, to seek justice, and to reconcile – known as “town hall meetings” – may have been caught in the web of partisan politics surrounding this summer’s town hall meetings on healthcare reform.   When some quick readers thought the ALBC was holding town hall meetings on health care they thought such partisanship should not be featured on the Commission’s web site.

So, should we rename the Lincoln Town Hall Meetings to “the Lincoln Forums on Race and Equality of Opportunity?” 

Let me know.  I’d like to know your thoughts.

The search for common ground and trust is not found in an instant.

We discussed the need for graceful and effective leadership as a key ingredient in a collaboration.  We discussed:  How can we collapse hierarchies, so that small and large institutions can work together, and at the same time allow for the emergence of a leader.  Lincoln, the politician, is worth studying and in some circumstances worth emulating.  We would like to know more about his role with the "Know Nothings" - more about his views on immigration, education and the ways he worked with Congressional leaders.

Are there lessons within the Lincoln biography on how to deal with strangers - how to develop trust?  Humor is needed even if you know you can't tell a joke.

In a look toward the future, several city representatives stated that a day long Town Hall was only the beginning - D.C.'s History Museum will continue to hold wide ranging forums on the vote - history of the development of the vote made the current debate in Congress and beyond less contentious.

I was surprised how prominently the anniversary of the Civil War loomed in the planning of many institutions.  If there were a national commission today as there had been for the Centennial, would it sway toward commemoration of battles or toward a discussion of the legacy of the Civil War in our search for equality and opportunity?  Would it also examine the US Civil War in comparison to so many civil wars in the world today?  Without a national commission would regional collaborations be formed?

One idea initially proposed by Jennifer Rosenfeld deputy director of the ALBC captivated many - could we have North/South dialogues focused on history and today? Perhaps Atlanta could be paired with Detroit or Washington with Boston? How much the divisions of the Civil War are mirrored in the Red state Blue state divisions of today. 

Will symbols such as the Confederate flag be raised again as a symbol of states rights in opposition to human rights? 

There were many moments I will remember from the conference - gentleness and kindness - learning more about Dave Lawrence and his siblings.  From Lincoln I am still learning about how to manage if not thrive in a world of partisanship and conflict – it’s essential in a democracy.

And Adam Green has promised an essay on this subject for December.

On June 29th^h at the Chicago Public Library and the ALBC foundation conducted a Town Hall with Professor Henry Louis Gates and WGN radio talk show host Rick Kogan.  It is entitled Out Histories Our Stories and now available on the ALBC web site. A full list of collaborators and the principal funder Fetzer Institute is acknowledged there.

In truth, although a big fan of Professor Gates I had not wanted an essentially solo performance on the subject of the stories we tell defining who we are.  My preference had been for a panel followed by a shorter interview- the panel to consist of some of the stellar fiction writers whose stories have dealt with “different’ treatment at the hands of justice.  I still hope we will assemble a panel of writers – including Scott Turow with his stories about Kindle County, Aleksander Hemon, Ana Castillo, and Achy Obejas among other greats in the Chicago literary tradition.  

However, given the race relations fire storm that erupted between two sterling individuals- Sergeant Jim Crowley and Professor Henry Louis Gates- this past week we all have very sad proof that it is the stories that we and generations before us have told that define who we are and how we behave under pressure.

It seems to me that each man acted from fear of the other - Voices of generations past may have unconsciously wired the brain of each man.

We have a tragically scarred race heritage that one president cannot erase.  The Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission and its Foundation are near the midway point in our production of 11 Town Halls in major cities on Abraham Lincoln: Race, Freedom and Equal Opportunity.  With 21^st century mind-sets attendants want to know if Lincoln was a racist?  Did he use the N word?   Exposed to the raw ugliness of slavery in his youth, Lincoln opposed slavery.  Inspired by the brilliance of Frederick Douglass, an emancipated former slave, Lincoln moved toward the actuality of possibility of negro votes and more equal opportunities. No matter the political opportunism, he did issue the Emancipation Proclamation.

Black and white need to win the wrestling match with the demons of the past.  Sharing stories in open about our innermost fears and best hopes can offer a way forward.         

Having been on the road in Morocco for ten days, with grandchildren ages seven and eight, I report that there is no escaping Lincoln whether in Marrakech – or even Essourira.

In this very beautiful walled city on the Atlantic coast, while sipping mint tea, I was told this story.  Hopefully Lincoln experts will verify it for me.

On August 28, 1815, the U.S. brig Commerce, captained by James Riley, was passing through the narrow straits of the Canary Islands and the treacherous Cape Boujdour heading toward the Cape Verde Islands. 

The Commerce was shipwrecked.  Twelve of its crew and its captain, James Riley, somehow made it to shore.  There desert nomads captured them and sold them into slavery. The sailors faced hunger, thirst, brutality. 

They escaped!

On a 1,200-mile trek across the desert, they somehow survived on snails, urine, camel's milk and blood. They redeemed their freedom in Essourira – then a little known coastal city from which they traveled back to the United States.

Riley's sensational memoir, published in 1817, is titled Sufferings in Africa.  It was read by millions of people world-wide.  One reader was Abraham Lincoln, whose views on slavery and suffering were influenced by this book. Along with the Bible, Shakespeare and Aesop's Fables we add Riley's memoir which greatly influenced his views on slavery.

While Moroccans were greatly pleased that President Obama recognized their nation as the first to recognize the independence of the United States from Britain, many wish he had continued the story and reaffirmed the connection between President Lincoln and Morocco.

by Jamie Stiehm
Huffington Post
Posted April 15, 2009 

President Barack Obama isn't the only 40-something Abraham Lincoln admirer in Washington, D.C. We each love his way with words and his prairie populist provenance, but let's just say the 16th president is my historical boyfriend. Let me explain how this crush is blooming like a cherry blossom.

In his bicentennial year, Lincoln haunts the air here: in book shops, art galleries, concerts, even the blue wool overcoat he wore to Ford's Theatre on the fatal night in 1865. On the lighter side, late-night comedian Conan O'Brien came to praise him as a humorist. It's all going to my head. Smelling salts, please.

I also went to a dramatization of the Lincoln-Douglas debates about slavery at Ford's: my idea of a good time. When I heard Bruce Springsteen rock the Inaugural concert back in January, the marble Lincoln Memorial itself was what actually made me misty. And the recent discovery of a secret message in his watch brought him back for a fleeting moment.

Lincoln's on my heart and mind. I wonder about the sound of his voice -- one thing we'll never know. The gray-blue eyes, yes, but not his voice. And he walks with me through our troubled times. The man knows how to handle trouble.

I often imagine the rainy morning scene of Lincoln's leaving Springfield, Illinois for Washington in 1861, forever. The farewell speech to townspeople, engraved on the wall by his statue in the National Cathedral, are among the saddest words he ever spoke. He wept; so did listeners as he thanked them for "all that I am."

I replay his White House handshake with Frederick Douglass (who almost got thrown out of the second Inaugural party) when he asked the abolitionist orator what he thought of his address. He added how much he valued a good word from Douglass.

It's hard to find time alone in my love for Lincoln, with all the competition.

Team of Rivals bestselling author Doris Kearns Goodwin, you are not really a rival; Lincoln loves you like a sister.

Poet Walt Whitman, you worshiped Lincoln when you both inhabited wartime Washington. The "Lilacs" and "Captain" elegies you composed for him sing to this day, but he just wasn't that into you as the great American bard. The man was too busy running a war. The president knew the other Bard's tragedies very well, and fittingly his favorite was the Scottish play, MacBeth, the tale of a good king's bloody murder.

As for Mary Lincoln, we give each other our space. This difficult first lady got a bad rap from Lincoln's biographers. Our rough-hewn railroad lawyer might not have made it as far without her. He married up in the match with the former Miss Todd, who knew about poetry, politics and polished entertaining. As a bright young thing, she was also courted by his smooth-talking rival, Stephen Douglas, and the republic might be another country had she married him instead.

Geography also plays a part. As a Wisconsin girl, Lincoln loomed large; I vividly remember visiting his large corner house in Springfield. Lincoln was the first president born outside the original thirteen states, suggesting it took an outsider from the "West" to settle the seething North-South sectional divide.

The dry wit and storytelling he was known for sprang from his prairie roots; all the land was once an empty stage for a story or laugh.

Then there's Lincoln's mastery over deep suffering. He had two suicidal breakdowns as a young man and later buried two sons, not to mention the loss of his mother as a boy. When in a blue mood, he can be consoling company.

On his last day, April 14, Lincoln told Mary on a carriage ride they must try to be happy, since the war was over at last. That spring night spelled the tragic end of him in a theater. Actor John Wilkes Booth took his life by shooting him in the back of the head. Booth leapt to the stage to dash for his horse and made a three-day escape into rural Maryland and Virginia. He was not captured alive, but several co-conspirators were convicted and hanged. There to see a comedy, a thousand theatergoers witnessed a political act of Shakespearean proportions.

Doctors keeping watch on Lincoln's deathbed into an April dawn said his strong body looked oddly younger than his face and his 56 years. Sevenscore and four years ago, he drew his last breath and left a broken-hearted world behind.

So my historical boyfriend is a much older married man whose grand life was brutally snuffed out the same year my great-grandfather was born. Yet he'll always belong to the ages, so they say -- and to me.

The ALBC posted this article with the author's permission.

The questions, which were organized as an interview conducted by Fraser Smith, senior news analyst at Baltimore WYPR, centered on the knowledge that each man brought to the White House with the query was experience was necessary. Lincoln, as portrayed by Jim Getty, focused on his years in the Illinois Legislature while TR, portrayed by Doug Mishler, essayed his role as New York Police Commissioner.

Lincoln noted at length that he knew nothing about military strategy and tactics before he arrived in the White House. Pouring over the books, maps, and charts he soon was a match for pompous and garrulous political generals.

Both men stated that family life was the only real reprieve from the constant grind of the presidency. They rega led the audience with tales of their children’s high jinks in the White House.

Finally, although Lincoln noted that he had his team of rivals, both men spoke ill of the Congress during their tenure, referring to the institution as a debating society. Action was needed even when the Congress was not in session. They did not believe in waiting.

I would have liked to see a staunch member of Congress join the group.

In July in Philadelphia at the annual convention of state legislators, among many other programs, the ALBC will sponsor a panel on Lincoln’s eight years as a state legislator. Among the experts in this field, we will likely invite Jim Getty to talk about his role in Springfield.

We hope to return to Baltimore when the Humanities Council produces more programs and exhibits about Lincoln and possibly one of the state’s favorite sons - Frederick Douglass.

The Last Stop: Lincoln and the "Mud Circuit" - is a history of Lincoln's appearances in Christian County Illinois, when he rode and worked the Eighth Judicial Circuit. Why was I drawn to this local history? The storyteller is a character with a great name – Joseph Pius Durbin – who it turns out is an ancestor of both the author, Alan Bower, and according to the author, the Senior Senator from Illinois Dick Durbin.

As a Justice of the Peace, an elected position, he could hear both civil and criminal cases and therefore got to know Lincoln, the lawyer. He swore that Lincoln was the strongest man he ever knew – able to lift a man of his own weight and throw him over a fence. He also noted that Lincoln lived by his humor – he was irresistibly comical. "Ridiculous stories was one of his ruling passions."

As for Durbin he was plain spoken and as he said, no different that other pioneers. Maybe they were all enterprising but Durbin was a surveyor, school superintendent, farmer, distiller, land speculator, spiritual counselor to the Catholic community, and miller. He made his way in the world.

What were the cases like that Durbin heard when Lincoln rode the circuit? People sued each other for failure to pay debts, for cutting down trees on another man's property, for failure to care for two mares, misuse of property, and so on.

This is a snapshot of life on the frontier as Lincoln lived it – with greedy land speculators where politics was king – and a barbecue the scene of rowdy entertainment and substantive ideas.

I may even have learned something about Senator Durbin's family stock – enterprising and hard working. He has not fallen far from the family tree.

Alan Bower is a sixth generation Illinoisan who traces his roots to a pioneer family. Upon retirement from a career in financial services, he began the serious study of the Illinois frontier. This is his third book.

This is a good read. I enjoyed it.

What better way to insure the widespread commemoration of Lincoln's birthday than to organize a circle of grandmother-readers?  We can also enlist honorary grandmothers for those who seek to draw closer to children.

We hope that public libraries will encourage grandmother-readers.  An anonymous donor will present the best newly published Lincoln story and picture books to all grandmothers.  Just email us and we will donate a book to a library of your choice.  

Previously we reviewed Staton Rabin's Mr. Lincoln’s Boys.  Another beautiful and appealing book to be published in January by Candlewick Press is Rosemary Wells’ Lincoln and His Boys. 

Wells expresses her indebtedness to Catherine Clinton, a leading Civil War historian and Mary Lincoln biographer, and to Harold Holzer, editor of Lincoln as I Knew Him.   Wells writes of Willie Lincoln's 200-word fragment about life in the White House. This moving and empathetic story is based in historical fact – a trip to Chicago to meet politicians, buying gifts for family members including gloves for Mary, the train trip from Springfield to Washington, Willie's death and his parents inconsolable grief, Tad's visits to the war front, barging into meetings with a pet goat.  And best of all, when the victory is realized, the family travels to Richmond on the steamboat River Queen. The President asks the bandmaster to play Dixie as a message.  For the victors and the vanquished Reconciliation and Reconstruction will go hand in hand. 

Wells notes that Lincoln was ahead of his time in many ways and especially so as a patient, sharing, and generous father.   

The book is listed as appropriate for readers in grades 3-7.  But grandmothers can stretch those years to make it a story for all ages.

Today we plan conferences on global emancipation with Howard and Oxford University.

Today we plan Town Halls in Atlanta, Charleston, Los Angeles, Miami and more.  These are premised upon our acceptance of the challenge of "unfinished work" that Lincoln laid on us at Gettysburg - We believe we can find new ways to make freedom and equality of opportunity a reality for all.

Is this the heart of our national celebration? Will it truly be a national commemoration? Largely a nation of immigrants, we are held together by our commitment to powerful ideas. Have we told to all the very moving and complex Lincoln story of his ultimate commitment to these ideals? Most importantly, have we listened to the voices of those youth and new American's as they freshly interpret our greatest icon?

Will we succeed in producing a truly national commemoration in this digital age? Despite the dedication of many educators, indications are that history and civics are having a tough time reaching many.

A circuit court judge recently told me about a family where the father and mother had passed the citizenship test, then coached their public school educated children in the essentials of American history and government.  Lincoln's Gettysburg Address followed by his Second Inaugural really resounded.

Are more families involved in telling stories - in sharing history?

Today what is our essential Lincoln? Can you imagine planting a time capsule - a message to the future? This corrosion proof capsule will reveal what we value in the Lincoln legacy, what we are sharing with our children in schools and at home. This time capsule will reveal who we are today for those who will open this capsule in 100 years.

Do you want the capsule to contain a message from the 45th U.S. president or from another famous person? Is there a particular book of the hundreds that will be published this year on Lincoln that is most meaningful to you or your family? Books may only be electronic by 2109. Is there something funny, moving, or quirky that should be included? Lincoln would have appreciated that.

While we may not write a book of the record of the time capsule, we will occasionally list what you want included in this time capsule. Who knows the item capsule may prove to be more than imaginary.

Would we re-dedicate the land grant colleges? And what of the time capsule, who should speak? Will she be funny moving quirky and substantive?

Do share your vision of a Lincoln Legacy time capsule. Occasionally, I will reprint responses.

Nearly 35 persons participated, including: representatives of the Fetzer Institute, museums, humanities councils, editors, Lincoln scholars, former Congressman Bill Gray, and members of the ALBC including Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr., Congressman Ray LaHood, and Gabor Boritt, with Jack Kemp, Judge Frank Williams, and Harold Holzer on the telephone. A draft vision statement was reviewed - please give us your thoughts on this.

Ten cities (regions) were proposed as sites including Miami, Atlanta, Chicago and Cincinnati. Doug Tanner, the founder of the Faith and Politics Institute, suggested that a another southern city be included in the group- possibly Richmond, Charleston, or New Orleans. In the coming weeks we will check with legislators, scholars, civic and spiritual leaders in those cities to determine interest in working with the ALBC to produce a Town Hall in 2009-10

Shirley Showalter shared her foundations's mission and its interest in Lincoln and leadership, compassion, forgiveness, reconciliation, and love. These words, she noted with some sense of irony, are not always empathetically received in D.C.- but Lincoln had these words in mind and heart.

John Stauffer, professor at Harvard University, spoke for 10 minutes about the parallel lives of Frederick Douglass, the abolitionist, and Lincoln, the poor man who became president. Lincoln's complex and evolving political stance on race was central to Stauffer’s talk. Stauffer is the author of a book to be published in November entitled Giants. Shirley Showalter felt that this was one of the most valuable parts of the meeting. Therefore with Stauffer's permission, we offer it to you.

Let me add that we hope that Professor Stauffer along with David Shubart from Exeter Academy, Governor Deval Patrick, many Boston colleges, historical societies, civic leaders and schools and businesses from the high tech corridor will host a Town Hall featuring youth.

While the subject of race now seems to impact on every aspect of American life, these Town Halls will only succeed with the help and ideas of many across the nation. Linking complex historical thought and current issues is, we hope, courageous and not foolhardy. We are buoyed by the extraordinary efforts of so many exceptional people as we begin this adventure.

Please share your thoughts. Would you or an organization in which you are active host an event? Please submit your ideas on content and speakers. What would make this effort meaningful to you?

What outcome would you envision? As Edna Green Medford said: what is the bottom line?

Collaboration was in the air when Linda Harper of Cultural Tourism D.C. promised a well-designed calendar listing all the D.C. activities.  Among the numerous offerings that will appear on this DC calendar:

The Library of Congress’s long-anticipated exhibit is focused on its singular collection of documents supplemented by some nearly unique artifacts including his beaver hat, the contents of his pockets the night he was assassinated, and possibly a cane his widow gave to Frederick Douglass.  Technology, as utilized in the Library’s exciting “Explore the Early Americas,” map exhibit “opens up” the exhibit.  Lincoln may have been a facile writer, nevertheless he wrote and re-wrote his magnificent public speeches as will be revealed in this exhibit. A complementary book edited by Harold Holzer and Joshua Shenk will include brief essays from Doris Kearns Goodwin, Toni Morrison, John Updike, Walter Mosely, Conan O'Brien among many others.

This exhibit attempts to answer the questions: Why does Lincoln tower above all others?  Why is he beloved?  Complementary programs at the LOC include: a film series; a concert; an exploration of Lincoln in fiction; and a seminar on March 4th organized by curator John Sellers.

Curatorial staff is equally energized at the Smithsonian where Harry Rubenstein, the coordinator for all Smithsonian Museums’ programs on Lincoln, has said that nearly every museum is contributing to the Lincoln Bicentennial – and they will open in time for the inauguration.  I have heard that the National Zoo will feature stories about the Lincoln children's pets – goats – and a dog named Jip. The Museum of American History, newly re-opened, will have a 3,500-square foot exhibit that personalizes Lincoln, tracing his Midwestern roots to his presidency. Famous Lincoln documents will be borrowed to supplement this exhibit. There will be a panel discussion on the meaning of race and another on Lincoln, science and technology. The Washington Choral Arts Society will illuminate the National Portrait Gallery exhibit.  

The National Cathedral will attempt Paul Hindemith's monumental choral work "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd” and a seminar on Lincoln's God. Researchers have informed me that several of the most renowned pre-World War II refugees, including Hindemith, quoted from Lincoln's most famous speeches when they were naturalized.  Perhaps at the re-dedication of the Lincoln Memorial quotes from the refugee/citizens will be featured in the program.

The D.C. Public Library is making no small plans. Madame Tussaud's wax Lincoln will greet all visitors when they tour the exhibit Forever Free. Major historians, like James McPherson and Jim Horton, will headline a series of monthly talks organized by the library. One program will compare Lincoln and the revered Mexican president Juarez.  Emancipation Day will be celebrated with a parade ending at the Martin Luther King Library where there will also be a Civil War encampment.

The Shakespeare Theatre will explore Lincoln's enduring love of the Bard with a symposium titled Freedom's Stage and a performance of Lincoln's favorite sonnets and soliloquies. 

The House of Representatives Historians' Office imagines that it may explore Lincoln's role in the Congress with a discussion about Lincoln and Kentucky's Henry Clay- Lincoln's beau jest featuring Robert Remini, historian of the U.S. House of Representatives, and University of Illinois professor and Vernon Burton, author of The Age of Lincoln.

The Crusor Family Foundation will exhibit at the Sumner School Museum on the first African American commemoration of Lincoln from 1865.

The National Park Service is working with nearly everyone in a three fold- re-dedication of the Lincoln Memorial. The Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the U.S. is planning a wreath laying on February 12.   The NPS also will join with the Washington National Opera and the ALBC on a celebration and concert featuring Denyce Graves on Easter Sunday, April 12. On May 30, the NPS will re-enact the 1922 dedication of the Memorial – “four score and seven years” to the day.

DC Mayor Adrian Fenty's Office and his Secretary of the District, Stephanie Scott, will collaborate with Howard University and the ALBC on a conference about Emancipation worldwide, and they hope to bring the musical group Sweet Honey in the Rock to the Easter Sunday Concert.

Gallaudet University will celebrate the 145th anniversary of President Lincoln's signing of its school charter.

Many DC groups are still looking to partner with others including the Elderhostel and the Children's Chorus of Washington. The Cherry Blossom Festival may have volunteers to work with others.

This is by no means a complete listing of planned events in D.C. - just a flavoring.  As exciting as these ideas are, more are needed.  We hope to hear from all the area universities and colleges, from the embassies, and from all those with an interest in Lincoln.

“New facts may not be uncovered, but each writer will have a fresh perspective a different twist,” said Julia Keller, cultural critic of The Chicago Tribune in a conversation with Vernon Burton, author of the acclaimed Age of Lincoln. When they met at the Printers’ Row Book Fair, they agreed. The more we read about Lincoln and re-read his magnificent public speeches, the more he keeps giving to us.

Why not feature the newest Lincoln books and authors at the grand Book Fairs in 2009 – in Los Angeles, at Printers’ Row in Chicago, in Miami, in Nashville (Southern Book Fair), in Frankfurt and at the antiquarian books stalls at Hay on Wye!

The ALBC plans to have a major Lincoln presence at most of these Book Fairs.  We also want to feature writers in lively conversation with book critics, perhaps film makers, and leading politicians. 

Whom should we invite?  Share your thoughts. Who should be talking with whom?  In 50 years, at the next Lincoln birthday, and accompanying civic celebrations  we will still be reading about Lincoln and marveling at his dexterity with language.  He will still inspire us and fire our creativity. Is it likely, however, that there will be fewer hard cover books?  Will we have succumbed to the economy of e-books?  Perhaps.

Staton Rabin who comes from a family of children's book writers tells the story of life in the White House during the Civil War.  Danger lurked everywhere; the booming sounds of war were almost unrelieved.  Yet a generous father gave of himself totally and thereby found his relief from tension in joyous play with his children.

Tad and Willie's various  pranks are recounted with gusto, but it is Jack the soldier doll dressed as a fiery red and blue Zouave firefighter-soldier who captivates us and the boys.  Jack is more than seriously mischievous. His story reveals a White House replete with soldiers facing the horrors of war s He spies for the enemy. He is a deserter. He is tried and is condemned to death by firing squad.

Then the boys ask their father, the president,  the Commander in chief for a pardon for Jack, the youthful doll-soldier. Lincoln takes their case seriously  balancing the need for army discipline and the paramount need especially in wartime for human compassion. He grants a pardon with a note- the doll jack is pardoned by order of the President.

Writing history books for youth is a great challenge and responsibility - we want them to love history and storytelling as we do.  Staton Rabin and her illustrator have given us a book that is a moving experience that reveals  the powers of the president, the tragedy of the Civil War, life for children in the White House, and the living breathing Constitution wherein the president's power to pardon is delineated.

I can imagine reading this book with 10-12 year olds and perhaps sharing other stories about Lincoln's compassion and tenderness and why he is revered on his 200th birthday.

I am hopeful that readers will find the idea intriguing and that someone will step forward with the funds to make it all happen.

Let him tell you about this.

From Jake: 

How do we get thousands of inner-city kids to study the words of Abraham Lincoln?

Hip-Hop.

HIP-HOP: LINCOLN
Abraham Lincoln is acknowledged as a master of words: a leader who elevated politics to poetry and thereby transformed America. Lincoln’s words have spread around the world.  Hip-Hop artists have transformed words and beats into art.  Modern youth culture has spread it around the world.

The Lincoln Hip-Hop Battle is a web-based competition intended to encourage urban youth to learn about Abraham Lincoln.  The premise is simple: a contest offers prize money to the best recorded hip-hop tracks that incorporate the words, history and meaning of Abraham Lincoln. 

A new younger generation now is passionately caught up in presidential politics.  Youth, especially in urban communities, are especially motivated. The Lincoln Hip-Hop Battle will embrace this modern political awareness and focus attention on the strongest pillar of American democracy: Abraham Lincoln.

New media technologies will be central to the Lincoln Hip-Hop Battle. The contest will be run via the website www.LincolnHipHop.net.  The website will offer easy access to Lincoln’s writings, history, and ideas.  It will encourage contestants to explore the life and work of Lincoln.  The site will also make available audio files that can be sampled in recordings including music from Lincoln’s era, sound FX, and recordings from the Library of Congress such as Voices from the Days of Slavery. Latino youth will also be encouraged to participate with Spanish language links.

The contest will be judged by celebrities in the hip-hop world and Lincoln experts. We have asked Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr. (IL) to help us recruit leading stars. Contestants will upload the tracks to the internet.  A registered web audience will vote online. Audience voting will encourage participants to talk-up the site among friends - spreading the word - getting people to vote for tracks. Outreach and use in schools will be encouraged.

Four-score and seven (87) tracks will be selected and presented to the judging panel. Criteria will include quality of the beats, lyrics, Lincoln content, and uniqueness.  The judges will select first, second and third place winners.  The top 12 tracks may be included on an album for download via iTunes and sale as a CD.  The contest will run for 4 months starting in November 2008 and conclude in February 2009: both black history month and the bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln’s birth.  The winner will be announced on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during the ALBC’s rededication of the Lincoln Memorial an April 12, 2009.

Companion myspace.com/HipHopLincoln, YouTube channel and a Facebook site will help promote and expand the reach of the project via viral marketing and social networking.  Marketing to the young urban demographic will be crucial to the success of the contest.  Traditional media outlets such as BET network, Vibe, and The Source magazine will reach the community.  Underground marketing will also be important.  

Contestants will be encouraged to upload short videos to YouTube in which they describe their methods and motivation for making their tracks.  A community section will encourage comment on the uploaded tracks  - furthering discussions of Lincoln and hip-hop in the urban youth community.  Teachers will be encouraged via downloadable tools to use the contest as a way of motivating students to study Lincoln.  A companion documentary could be produced chronicling the contest and the stories of contestants.

If this idea interests you, please contact Jake Boritt.  Perhaps you can contribute your expertise as a webmaster or you know Chuck D or Stevie Wonder. Perhaps you would like to make a contribution toward the prize money.

I know that the bicentennial will be a great success, but by any measure we must redouble our efforts to excite and engage our youth. Lincoln would expect no less from us. 

I look forward to hearing from you about this or other ideas for attracting youth.      

The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum represented by Oprah Winfrey awarded the Lincoln leadership prize to Archbishop Desmond Tutu on Tuesday, May 13 in Chicago.  This award presented first to Justice Sandra Day O’Connor recognizes those rare individuals who “respond to the responsibilities imposed by history and demanded by conscience.”  A brave fighter of apartheid, then the convener of South Africa’s peace and reconciliation commission, he is emblematic of the Mandela generation that could believe in and build a brighter future for all races in the nation.  

Soft-spoken yet powerful and energized with (should we say self-deprecating but biting) humor, the former Archbishop of Cape Town told Museum supporters this occasion meant more to him than his Nobel Prize.   He delivered a major address to the overflow crowd. Praising the nation and Americans individually as among the most generous anywhere, he noted that the nation is “haunted by a racial divide” that still “offers blacks only the illusion of equality.” African Americans feel that race is a very real issue; while whites try to pretend it isn’t.  Race will haunt Americans, he said, until there is a way to talk honestly about race such as holding a reconciliation forum. 

When he urged Lincoln Museum supporters to take up the challenge of forming a Peace and Reconciliation Commission, it sounded like the ALBC planned Town Halls on Lincoln’s  “unfinished work”: A Discussion of Equality of Opportunity, Democracy, and Race.   Under the leadership of Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr., the ALBC encourages city governments, leading cultural and educational institutions to collaborate with the national commission in planning regional Town Halls from Newark to L.A. with Nashville in between. 

To date there may be as many as 15 Town Halls in planning and discussion. Detroit, led by the head of the state department of History, Arts, and Libraries, William M. Anderson, and Governor Jennifer Granholm and the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn have planned an extensive experience with original educational materials, locally focused research products, and the participation of public television.  Other municipalities and states are not far behind. 

We on the staff of the ALBC encourage you to hold a Town Hall.  We have recruited select historians, political and civic leaders, theologians, journalists and artists to participate with leaders you select to participate in these Town Halls.  Formats may vary but all will include opportunities for widespread discussion.  A national report will be produced.  These Town Halls may be what Archbishop Tutu suggested are required to weaken racism’s hold on our nation. We can take up the challenge of Lincoln’s unfinished work and live his legacy!

Occasionally I will also discuss works in progress in their early planning stages or more often unresolved issues so that you can take up the challenge and improve these efforts.

Let me tell you about Mother’s Day 2008 in southern Indiana and the celebration in honor of Lincoln’s mothers. Stalwart, intrepid, invincible – all these words describe the audience that dedicated themselves to attend the event. 

Anticipating bright sunshine and gentle breezes, nearly 1,500 people had registered to attend the Indiana Mother’s Day celebration at the Lincoln Boyhood Home. Three hundred braved the cold driving rain to listen to rousing patriotic music and the stirring words of Governor Mitch Daniels, Congressman Baron Hill, professor Darrel Bigham (a national ALBC Commissioner) and everyone’s favorite Joan Flinspach, national ALBC Commissioner and the CEO of the Fort Wayne Lincoln Museum.  The Celebration Singers, all volunteers, bravely threw off their coats and hats when singing American 19th century favorites. The Red Bank Reunion Band, perhaps warmer than others in their period uniformed costumes, boomed away.

Indiana’s political leaders while praising Lincoln, chided Kentucky for its wimpishness in canceling its Lincoln birthday event in the park because of some snow and ice.  Then some gentle souls in the stands in the amphitheater recognizing Judge Tommy Turner, a national ALBC commissioner who had been acknowledged from the platform by Darrel Bigham, solicitously and genuinely told the judge that they truly loved Kentucky their sister state and especially Kentuckians almost as much as Indiana. 

Kudos to Connie Nass, chair of the Indiana committee, who kept her commission on target and welcomed all ideas in program planning. Then she went on to produce a showcase Indiana event. Cheers to Randy Wester and the National Park Service for moving the program to the amphitheatre which had a roof if open sides.  Hooray for Evansville students with patriotic pride who creatively strummed Lincoln’s evocation of Indiana. And the channel 25 television anchor, Shelly Kirk, dispelled the icy air and professionally kept the event moving. The day, however, belonged to Joan Flinspach who applauded all the mothers present with her narrative of a typical frontier woman’s daily chores.  Somehow, despite the hardship of life on the frontier, Lincoln’s mothers – emblematic of all frontier mothers – found the time to encourage children to value learning and education and the reality of American opportunity.