Archive for September, 2007
Next Entries »Abraham Lincoln Newspaper Archive
Thursday, September 13th, 2007I want to tell you about an interesting resource. Yesterday I stumbled upon the Abraham Lincoln Newspaper Archive. The project has compiled thousands of articles on the sixteenth president from newspapers all across the country. The database is free and fully searchable. You can even view the actual newspaper pages! You can also order full-sized [...]
"I’m Going to Congress!"
Wednesday, September 12th, 2007He had already served four consecutive terms in the Illinois state legislature, but Abraham Lincoln had greater political aspirations. By 1843, he started positioning himself for a run at the United States Congress. Three years later, he earned the Whig Party’s nomination for Congress in the Illinois Seventh Congressional District. His opponent was renowned circuit-riding [...]
When the World Comes Crashing Down
Tuesday, September 11th, 2007Time has a way of standing still when the world comes crashing down. If my grandfather was alive today, he could tell me exactly where he was standing when he heard about the attack on Pearl Harbor. Both of my parents can vividly remember hearing about the Kennedy assassination. I remember daydreaming in grade school [...]
Real Items Linked to a Real Story
Monday, September 10th, 2007Last July I reported that Ford’s Theatre National Historic Site was in a bit of turmoil. “America’s most famous theatre” was to receive an $8.5 million face-lift. Though the site would have been closed to the public for 18 months, the upgrades would have been significant. Plans called for the installation of an elevator and [...]
"My Ardent Wish and Most Fervent Soul Prayer"
Friday, September 7th, 2007No one casts a longer shadow over Lincoln studies than William Henry Herndon. He had known Lincoln for more than a quarter-century, for 17 of those years he was his law partner. The assassination hit Herndon hard, but the “historians” infuriated him. These “eulogizers,” who, he believed, were really just “blind bat-eyed hero worshippers,” were [...]
The Real War
Thursday, September 6th, 2007Historians are interested in putting the American Civil War into context. For instance, 620,000 soldiers lost their lives in the war. The number itself is staggering, but what does it really mean? If we add up American deaths in the American Revolution, the War of 1812, the Mexican War, the Spanish-American War, World War I, [...]
Spotting Lincoln
Wednesday, September 5th, 2007Abraham Lincoln sells everything from books and movies to t-shirts and shot glasses. As the bicentennial of his birth approaches in 1809, I suspect we will be seeing his image in new and unusual places. The Associated Press recently ran a story about Lincoln’s birthplace in Hodgenville, Kentucky. Local merchants sell “slingshots and apple-bourbon scented [...]
Two Civil War Museums for One City?
Tuesday, September 4th, 2007The capitol of the Confederacy now offers another view of the “War of Northern Aggression.” For more than a century, the Museum of the Confederacy has called Richmond, Virginia home. The museum features battle flags, uniforms, blood-stained letters, and maps. In addition to celebrating the valor of Confederate soldiers, it also reinforces several aspects of [...]
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