Lincoln Drives America: Honest Abe Exhibits
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BARACK OBAMA'S INAUGURATION may be over, but Abraham Lincoln's lives on at the Capitol Visitor Center.
On permanent display is a table used during his second inauguration. Also housed at the center is an assortment of fundamental Lincoln documents, including telegrams sent during the Civil War, his 1862 State of the Union and the draft of legislation to abolish slavery in the District.
The National Museum of Health and Medicine opened "Abraham Lincoln: The Final Casualty of the War," a collection that contains the bullet that ended the president's life, shards from Lincoln's skull and locks of his hair.
Want to know how the stone-faced Lincoln Memorial was born? The National Gallery of Art has "Designing the Lincoln Memorial: Daniel Chester French and Henry Bacon." The original 6-foot-high plaster model for the statue, sculpted by French, and Bacon's wood model of the memorial are on display.
The National Museum of American History's "Abraham Lincoln: An Extraordinary Life," feels like a stroll through Lincoln's attic. Where else could you find pictures from his youth, his watch, his "mud circuit desk," campaign torches and his childhood iron wedge wood-splitter? The ongoing exhibit is highlighted by personal stories told by Lincoln and those close to him and includes his famous top hat.
Over at the National Portrait Gallery is "One Life: The Mask of Lincoln," an exhibit that examines how the president used photography to further his image among the American people. Walk through a collection of Lincoln's portraits to see his many faces.
And once you've had enough of Honest Abe, head over to the public vaults at the National Archives to see an interactive exhibit about another pivotal character: John Wilkes Booth.
» PLUS: Check out the Library of Congress' exhibit on Lincoln the speechwriter. Get more on that here.
» Capitol Visitor Center, 126 1st St. SE; through Sept. 30; 202-225-6827. (Capitol South)
» National Museum of American History, 14th Street & Constitution Avenue NW; ongoing; 202-633-1000.
» National Gallery of Art, 6th Street & Constitution Avenue; ongoing; 202-842-6110. (Smithsonian)
» National Portrait Gallery, 750 9th St. NW; through July 5, 2009; 202-633-1000. (Gallery Place-Chinatown)
» National Archives, 700 Pennsylvania Ave. NW; 202-357-5000. (Archives-Navy Memorial)
Written by Express contributor Robyn Mincher
Photo courtesy NMAH
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Goodness gracious, don't forget the Abraham Lincoln National Exhibition at the Library of Congress. :-)
The reviews are stellar:
"Few museums can compete with the exhibit culled from the Library of Congress’s collection of 20,000 Lincoln objects." —John Hanc, The New York Times, March 10, 2009.
"The Library of Congress has topped all others, with weekly events that have included a Lincoln poetry reading, a lecture on Lincoln's family, a book discussion on his assassination, and the screening of a Lincoln silent movie from 1918." —Dana Milbank, Washington Post, March 12, 2009
"[With Malice Toward None: The Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Exhibition] is a spectacular collection of many of the most important artifacts documenting Lincoln's times and presidency." —James R. Carroll, The Courier-Journal, February 17, 2009
"The Library of Congress exhibition is certainly the most impressive in the current round of Lincoln displays mounted so far, at least in Washington." —Philip Kennicott, Washington Post, February 12, 2009
"Among the wealth of exhibitions being rolled out for the 200th Anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s birth …, the Library of Congress has taken center stage." —Agence France-Presse, February 10, 2009
"Many of the most precious Lincoln artifacts are being shown for the first time in years, and it's been at least 50 years since so many of them have been shown together." —Brett Zongker, The Associated Press, February 8, 2009
"It’s pretty impressive just to see the reproductions of Lincoln’s words, as they were written in longhand, and then reprinted and annotated. The allure of the real thing – whether it’s the Gettysburg Address, the second inaugural address or the farewell speech to Springfield – may be a shade mystical, but it sure is real." – National Public Radio, All Things Considered, February 12, 2009
"[The Library of Congress' With Malice Toward None exhibition, which] includes almost all the major Lincoln documents, is essential viewing." —Philip Kennicott, Washington Post, February 12, 2009
By Matt Raymond at LOC , Posted April 10, 2009 11:36 AM