The Lincoln\Sargent Farm Foundation and Lincoln Log Cabin
spearheaded efforts to form a Coles County Abraham Lincoln Bicenten-nial
Committee this past winter. One of the early fruits of that endeavor
will be the upcoming unveiling of Looking for Lincoln wayside exhibits
in Coles County. In the first phase, they will be installed this summer in
Mattoon, Charleston, Oakland and at the Thomas Lincoln Cemetery in
rural Lerna.
Each exhibit tells a unique story of Abraham Lincoln in Coles
County: the Mattson slave trial, Lincoln’s last visit to Coles County, the
story of Thomas Lincoln’s grave, the political rallies after the 1858 de-bates
between Lincoln and Douglas and Lincoln’s legal practice in Coles
County. Plans are currently underway to add additional wayside exhibits
next year.
The official kick-off of Lincoln Bicentennial events will begin
this fall with the 150th anniversary
of the Lincoln-Douglas Debate at the fairgrounds in Charleston. It will be
a day-long celebration featuring arts past and present along with a special
program at 2:00 featuring Lincoln and Douglas. The candidates will also
be on hand throughout the day in their campaign tents to engage visitors.
Lincoln Log Cabin has also partnered with EIU’s Academy of Lifetime
Learning to offer the program Abraham Lincoln in Song by Chris Vallillo
on January 14th, and on February 12th the site will host special Living
History demonstrations and children’s story times and activities in honor
of Abraham Lincoln’s 200th Birthday.
The Charleston Community Theatre has also joined in the Coles
County observances by putting on the one man show “Two Pennies a
Mile” by Ed Trotta which explores how Lincoln may have viewed the var-ies
tributes and memorials to him. Lincoln Log Cabin’s Volunteer group is
also planning to present excerpts from the book Herndon’s Informants, in which Lincoln’s Coles County fam-ily
members and acquaintances reminisce about Abraham Lincoln. Watch for other upcoming announcements
and final dates for these programs.
The Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial
A Horned Dorset ewe and her lamb.
Local Boy Scout Kyle Daubs and fellow
troop members performed a community
service project at the site this spring
replacing the mulch at one of our play-grounds.
Ongoing Research Project
at Lincoln Log Cabin
In order to better serve visi-tors
to Lincoln Log Cabin, we are
currently conducting a comprehen-sive
survey of visitors to the site.
With the help of Marian Wooten,
from the Recreation Administra-tion
Program at EIU, a survey has
been designed to track visitors ex-pectations
of the site pre-visit, and
their thoughts and comments on
the current programs after their
visit. By compiling this research
we hope to provide for a better
educational, and more fulfilling
visit for the public.
The focus of the post-visit
portion of the survey will help us
by pinpointing where the visitor
learns, and what interpretive meth-ods
appeal to them. Watch for the
upcoming results.
~The new Living History Pro-gram
Interpreter’s Handbook is avail-able
for all Lincoln Log Cabin Sea-sonal
Interpreters and Volunteers.
This hand-held guide was de-signed
to inform and teach interpret-ers
about living history interpretation
and some of the daily chores and
skills necessary to rural Illinois fami-lies
during the 19th century. It’s also
a quick reference guide for informa-tion
relating to the Lincoln and Sar-gent
families and Abraham Lincoln in
Coles County.
If you haven’t received your
copy stop by the office to pick one
up.
