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Exhibition Reviews
Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, 212 North Sixth St., Springfield, IL 62701.
Permanent exhibition, opened April 19, 2005. M–Su 9–5; W 9–8:30. Adults $7.50, seniors $5.50, children $3.50. 40,000 sq. ft. In collaboration with the State of Illinois and the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency. HOK Architects, designers and builders; Richard Norton Smith, executive director; BRC Imagination Arts, special effects, videos, and gallery design; Life Formations, mannequins.
Videos, Lincoln's Eyes and Ghosts of the Library, by BRC Imagination Arts. About 30 mins. each.
Internet: membership information, interactive timeline, upcoming events, online ticket purchases <http://www.alplm.org> (Aug. 29, 2005).
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| Long after his death, Abraham Lincoln remains a powerful presence in American politics, and our collective memory of him has been a source of debate and controversy ever since his assassination. The debate continues with the new Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum (ALPLM) in Springfield, Illinois. The facilities, designed and built by hok Architects of St. Louis, Missouri, stand in close proximity to the old state capitol, the Lincolns' home, and the Lincoln and Herndon law offices in the heart of historic Springfield. As a location, the museum reasserts Lincoln's presence in the places where he was most visible during his time in the state capital and commemorates Springfield's favorite son by bringing him home again through an extended meditation on his life and times. |
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The museum uses state-of-the-art special effects and pursues a visually oriented museological philosophy that has sparked some controversy among scholars. In fact, the historian John Y. Simon has accused the ALPLM of being "Six Flags over Lincoln" or "Lincolnland." The objection to the Disneyfication of modern society is understandable, but, in the case of the alplm, it is a matter of throwing out the baby with the bath water. No matter what modern scholarship's opinions may be about Disneyesque elements in legitimate museums, the fact remains that the ALPLM, like any other modern collection, has an audience base that extends far beyond specialists and academics. Rather than merely pandering to the public or dumbing down history, the ALPLM intelligently and compellingly uses visual culture to meet its mission as a public pedagogical institution. The museum addresses complex historical material and opens the historical discourse to a wider audience than would be possible through more conventional means. |
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The museum greets the visitor in the rotunda—a large open space featuring a re-creation of Lincoln's boyhood cabin, a replica of the White House, two theater entrances, and life-size silicone-latex figures representing the Lincoln family. From this point, visitors can choose between two different galleries, or "journeys," that organize the story of Lincoln's life into discrete episodes. Journey One covers his boyhood in Indiana to his first election as president. Journey Two explores the White House years and the Civil War. Visitors can begin with either, but progressing chronologically through time better preserves the overall narrative that the museum's designers and curators have so carefully created. Each journey is filled with vignettes drawn from Lincoln's life as well as artifacts ranging from letters and documents to everyday objects, mostly from the State of Illinois's large Lincoln collection. The museum uses standard wall texts to explain issues to exhibit goers, but, as an art historian, I am particularly interested in the alplm's visual components. Three specific points of interest stood out for me, and I concentrate my analysis on them. |
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