We immortalise him in plaster but today on the anniversary of his death we celebrate the life of Lincoln.
The Lincoln Memorial stares out to the Capitol and the Washington Monument in the nation’s capital.
And is one of the world’s great statues and the site of another of the most defining times in American history.
When Martin Luther delivered his I Have A Dream speech before 250,000 people around the Reflecting Pool.
Belong to the angels
We mark today when he died as we did yesterday when John Wilkes Booth shot him in Ford’s Theatre.
It was at 7.22am on April 15, 1865 that the 16th US President, the one who saved the union for those Commanders In Chief after him, was declared dead.
And Secretary of War Edward Stanton pronounced that he now ‘belonged to the ages’ or ‘angels’.
Before he belonged to America, the world and the angels Abraham Lincoln belonged to Springfield, Illinois.
From Kentucky to Illinois
A dirt-poor cabin on Sinking Spring Farm near Hosgenville, Kentucky and Indiana before that.
Twas Illinois though where Lincoln graduated to become a lawyer and politician.
And where he laid down roots for 17 years with socialite Mary Todd and where they set up home.
Which you can see with your own eyes and we will explore the possibility of visiting.
When we attend the American Travel Fair in Chicago, a three-hour drive south, in June.
On the corner of Eighth and Jackson Streets, visitors will get a glimpse into Lincoln’s life.
As well as a family man and explore his rise to prominence.
The House of Lincoln
Admission to tour the house is free but tickets are issued on a first-come, first-served basis.
Each tour is limited to 15 individuals.
Pick up a ticket inside the Lincoln Home Visitor Center for the 20-25 minute tour.
Lincoln is, of course, universal and the Visitor Center has thrown its doors open to the four corners of the world.
Your virtual Lincoln
Through a collabration with Google Arts and Culture, it is now possible to take a virtual tour through the Lincoln Home.
Videos of a tour through the Lincoln Home are also available on the Lincoln Home National Historic Site YouTube account.
Springfield is too the last resting place for Lincoln and you can pay homage at the Lincoln Tomb.
At the end of the 1,654-mile Lincoln Train journey from DC across the States, which set out on the April 21 of that year.
Lincoln is all around us
In fact Lincoln is ubiquitous in Springfield.
And you can check out the Lincoln Rail Splitter Statue, the Presidential Library and Museum, the New Salem State Historical Site, the Lincoln Pew and the Long Nine Museum and Lincoln Depot.
Which of course the visitspringfield site is all over it.
And which we’ll return to again next week as we celebrate the life of Lincoln and his legacy.
