Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum Resources
The Journey, Part I - The Pre-Presidential Years
Carving a Family Home is a recreation of the "woods" around the cabin in Indiana where Lincoln grew up. A young Lincoln is sitting on a fence near the cabin and reading a book while he should be doing his chores.
In Self-Taught you enter a cabin and discover Lincoln as a teen, reading borrowed books by firelight. His father, Thomas Lincoln, his stepmother, Sally Johnston Lincoln, and his four siblings sleep nearby in this one room cabin.
On the River is a gallery space where you learn about Lincoln earning his first dollar working as a ferryman on the Ohio River. This space also has a map that traces Lincoln's move to New Salem and his two flat boat trips down the Mississippi River to New Orleans. Those trips may have given Lincoln his first exposure to slavery. At The Slave Auction you confront the horrors of a family being torn apart by auctioneers. Did Lincoln encounter such a scene during his trip down the Mississippi River to New Orleans? Historians can't confirm it, but there is a strong possibility.
In New Salem you'll see Lincoln as an awkward young man hopelessly in love with Ann Rutledge. Did this really happen? Historians may never know for certain, but this romantic idea remains an enduring part of the Lincoln legend.
Life in Springfield - Home Life, Work Life, Political Life, is a gallery space presenting Lincoln's life in Springfield, Illinois, including his courtship of Mary, his home life, his legal and political careers, his law practice and the Lincoln-Douglas debates.
The Permissive Parent, is an immersive scene letting you enter the Lincoln-Herndon law office. Lincoln is stretched out on the couch and is blissfully reading a newspaper while his boys, Willie and Tad, run riot tearing the place apart.
Campaign 1860 brings the campaign of 1860 to life for contemporary visitors with multiple video monitors featuring an election coverage TV news program analyzing the campaign in which Lincoln won the presidency. This daring and different approach makes the complex four-way presidential race of 1860 understandable to today's audiences by accurately translating the issues and strategies of 1860 into the sound-bite media bursts of today.
On to Washington shows president-elect Lincoln making his famous and emotional farewell speech before leaving Springfield for Washington D.C. where he will begin his first term as president. He will not return alive.
Other Tools for Teachers...
Click this image for an interactive overview of Elections! This activity introduces students to the topics of Candidates, Voters, Party System, Election Process and Issues.
Click the image to complete an "I Spy" activity based on Lincoln's Second Inauguration.
