A small US city shows how great an American president can really be
By Riley Wilson
This is not my first rodeo. It’s not my first time at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, nor is it my first time ogling the animatronics and technology that bring the 16th US president to life. It’s not my first time being spooked by the uncanny lifelike depictions of him – cast in silicone – that punctuate the museum. But it feels like the first time, every time, despite the fact that it’s closer to the eighth time, which is what makes this slice of historical magnificence in downtown Springfield, the capital of Illinois, worth a return visit every time I come home.
Outside Springfield’s Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum.Credit: iStock
After a 25-hour journey to Springfield from Australia – via Los Angeles, Dallas and St Louis – I’m visiting my maternal family after almost three years away. That’s about the same amount of time, for what it’s worth, between when Lincoln first ran for office (1832) and when he was elected to the Illinois House of Reps (1834). Honest Abe has loomed large for me since childhood, when his stovepipe hat and pursuit of nationwide change first entered my consciousness and imagination.
There are uncanny depictions of Abraham Lincoln and his family throughout the museum.Credit: Alamy
His legacy – one of ensuring the preservation of the nation during arguably its most pivotal domestic challenge, the American Civil War; of abolishing slavery and emancipating previously enslaved peoples; of leading with an unwavering sense of justice and kindness; of being a self-made man from a childhood in a Kentucky log cabin – is a far cry from the antics of the current US president. In stark contrast to the 47th POTUS, Lincoln – also a Republican president – was humble, deferential and eloquent, with a deep desire to provide for all communities regardless of their circumstance and a sincere, abiding passion for the protections and rights provided by the Declaration of Independence.
During this visit to Illinois I’m sharing him, showing my visitors from the east coast and my aunt – who lives in Springfield but hasn’t yet been to the museum – what all the fuss is about.
If the extent of the investment here was not immediately obvious – although between the soaring ceilings in the main hall, the two theatrettes, and the self-guided journey through Abe’s life via those silicone models and life-size dioramas, it is – the dedication of the museum’s 600 volunteers and 10-ish guides at any one time would make it very clear. Stephen Stone has been a guide since 2021. I find him in the model of Lincoln’s boyhood log cabin, where, despite the dim lights of the faux fireplace, the president-to-be’s eyes sparkle with delight beneath animated bushy eyebrows. After a career as a doctor, he had one clear goal upon retirement: to volunteer at this very museum.
“When we first moved to Springfield some 46 years ago, it was clear that the history of Lincoln’s presence permeates the entire city,” he says.
Lincoln’s home in Springfield.
“As time went by, his leadership, his humanity, his sense of purpose, and even his sense of humour made a real impact on me. When the museum opened [in 2005], the presence of the figures, the log cabin, and the family standing in the plaza greeting the visitors all impressed me – and that’s when I made the commitment to volunteer here when I retired.”
Those figures – with their eyelashes and textured hands – are certainly moving, in more ways than one. Time your visit to walk through the rooms of all Abe eras, and ensure a viewing of the Ghosts of the Library show, which uses Holavision – an evolution of Pepper’s ghost, illusion technology developed in the 1860s – to tell the story of the presidential library archives.
As my dear friend Drew – a theatre nut himself – puts it, “this performance is worthy of a Tony”. An actor takes to the stage behind a slanted glass wall and interacts with objects – both real and holographic – before turning into a ghost before our eyes. It’s something else, and something I’ve only ever seen here.
Abe’s impact is also felt beyond these walls. Take the Lincoln Home, for example, which is restored and maintained with exceptional detail. Tours, run all day by informed and personable park rangers, take visitors through the halls that Lincoln, his wife Mary, and their sons – Robert, Eddie (briefly), Willie and Tad – once stomped through. You can even stand next to the desk where Lincoln wrote while overlooking his bustling, multicultural neighbourhood.
Refreshments at Obed and Isaac’s.
The home is one of various properties that you can visit at the Lincoln Home National Historic Site, and it’s within spitting distance of Obed & Isaac’s, a local microbrewery that makes good, honest beer and includes Lincoln’s famous top hat as part of its logo. The namesakes of the business, Obed Lewis and Cordelia Iles, lived a block from the Lincolns, and their children played with Lincoln boys. The plum sour beer quenches and is infinitely sippable when paired with a game of cornhole in the beer garden.
Cornhole, a competitive Midwestern game of throw-the-beanbag-in-the-hole that delights even the sternest patron, is a matter of stoic seriousness. Things get competitive. The lore surrounding Lincoln’s fun-loving, mischievous younger sons suggests they’d fit right into the line-up.
Cornhole is a matter of stoic seriousness. Things get competitive.Credit: Getty Images
Just down the road is the Old Capitol Building, where Lincoln tried cases before the Illinois Supreme Court and delivered his famous “House Divided” speech in 1858 before campaigning for the US Senate, ahead of his move to the White House.
When he finally came home in 1865, it was in a coffin in a train carriage – the funeral procession took his body from Washington to Springfield over 12 days. He was interred at Oak Ridge Cemetery, where the highly decorated and exceptionally refined Lincoln Tomb celebrates the life of one of Springfield’s – and America’s – greatest politicians. In high summer, with the buzzing of cicadas and the heavy heat, the cool marble walls of the tomb – and the various brass statues and placards inside – offer a welcome reprieve, and a moment of distinct contemplation.
Lincoln’s tomb and monument in Springfield.Credit: iStock
Abe lives on in these parts, and he looms large, beyond the cast bronze castings downtown and the silhouette on the Springfield Beer Company logo. On the town square, just beside where Lincoln shared his law office with William Herndon, you’ll find the 50-year-old Prairie Archives, run by Robb Paul.
By Paul’s count, he has about a thousand books about Abe. He also has carts of cheap books out the front of the shop – and he knows the price and origin of each volume. Try him. If nothing else, you’re sure to get a story. It’s his Midwestern generosity, which has a lot in common with the values Lincoln upheld. It’s no coincidence Lincoln is regarded as one of the best presidents – if not the best – this curious country ever had. Around these parts, there’s pride in that.
Just down the road from the bookstore, Lincoln accepted his victory in the 1860 presidential election. His speech regarding the success of the “Republican cause” was pithy. His words are a retrospective beacon of modern-day hope, 165 years later: “Let us at all times remember that all American citizens are brothers of a common country, and should dwell together in the bonds of fraternal feeling.”
There’s an old saying: “Find a penny, pick it up, all day long, you’ll have good luck.” Abe’s face is on the back of those pennies, too. I wonder if it works in reverse. During my time at home, I pinch the brightest pennies from my pockets and leave them downtown: out the front of the museum, on the fences in Abe’s old street, on the picnic table in the beer garden at Obed & Isaac’s. He was a firm believer in paying it forward, old Abe. And after travelling across the United States to get here, I’ve got a clinking pocket of coins to share. Never have I felt quite so lucky to be home.
The Prairie Archives.
THE DETAILS
TRAIN
The Amtrak station is three blocks from the presidential museum and an 11-minute walk from Obed & Isaac’s. From the Chicago and St Louis international airports, the train journey to Springfield takes 90 minutes to three hours.
STAY
There are many hotels in Springfield. Consider the President Abraham Lincoln Springfield DoubleTree (rooms from $355), the Inn at 835 (from $225) or Carpenter Street Hotel (from $190).
VISIT
The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum is open from 9am to 5pm daily, except for Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day. See presidentlincoln.illinois.gov
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