Review Essay

Engulfed by the Past: History and Experience at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum

KEITH A. EREKSON

Our trip to the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum (ALPLM) in Springfield, Illinois, began familiarly enough.1 As a historian married to a former high school history teacher, I have grown accustomed to the need to preempt the boredom that afflicts our six- and four-year-old daughters each time we drag them to historic sites and events. I herded the children up to the first display, a timeline of events in flowing script, and searched for something—anything—that might draw them into the story. I spied a reference to young Abe's being kicked in the head by a horse, but before I could launch into the tale, my oldest poked her head out of the nearby life-sized reconstruction of the Lincoln family's Indiana cabin and yelled, "Hey, come in here."	1
The Museum Plaza This central area juxtaposes young Abe reading in front of his boyhood cabin with the Lincoln family at the White House. Courtesy Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum
The transition from looking at text on the wall to stepping into the cabin foreshadows the visitor experience at the Lincoln Museum. The $90 million facility, which opened to the public on April 19, 2005, engulfs its visitors in a sophisticated, twenty-first-century rendition of Lincoln's world. While the overall effect has laid the museum open to controversy, our family's visit suggests to me that the ALPLM succeeds in informing and inspiring a broad public audience.	2
An open plaza greets visitors, offering central access to the theaters, 40,000 square feet of permanent exhibition spaces, café, gift shop, and exploration room for children. This design allows families to alternate forays into the exhibits and shows with stops for the kids at the restrooms and in a play area named "Mrs. Lincoln's Attic" that features dress-up clothes, pioneer toys, a dollhouse patterned after the Lincoln Home in Springfield, and, of course, Lincoln Logs.	3
The permanent exhibition space consists of three major galleries. Journey One: The Pre-Presidential Years presents Lincoln's life from Indiana, through New Salem and Springfield, to his departure for Washington. In Journey Two: The White House Years, visitors find depictions of the Civil War, national politics, Washington society, the Lincolns' family life, and the assassination and funeral procession. In contrast to these narrative galleries, the Treasures Gallery evokes a distinctly worshipful mood. Having completed the two historical "journeys," visiting pilgrims enter the museum's holy of holies to gaze upon a small collection of the Lincoln family's personal belongings, including Abe's shaving mirror, Mary's wedding dress, Tad's toy cannon, and the family's dishes. A twenty-five-foot-high shimmering gold partition further demarcates the center of the gallery as an inner sanctum that guards a signed copy of the Emancipation Proclamation, the handwritten "Everett" copy of the Gettysburg Address, and the leather portfolio in which the president carried his papers.	. . .