For example, only one picture exists showing President Lincoln's body. Mary Lincoln demanded that all photographs of the funerals be destroyed, and so Secretary of War Stanton detailed special military units to find and destroy the pictures. One photograph of Mr. Lincoln lying in state in the Springfield, Illinois, State Capitol survived, hidden away by Secretary Stanton, who apparently couldn't bear to destroy the last picture of his great friend. Years later the photograph was discovered, and is on display in the Lincoln Museum, on loan from the Library.
Photographs are only allowed in the entry lobby of the Museum. Here you see life-size figures of the Lincoln family in period dress. Throughout the Museum, figures bring to almost-life the events talked about.
On one side of the lobby, we saw what we thought was a reproduction of the boyhood home of Mr. Lincoln, but as we found out, it is an actual 1830 vintage log home. It was discovered inside a barn, of all things, protected from the elements, but used to dry Tobacco. Moved piece by piece and carefully reconstructed, it not only shows a young Abe Lincoln figure in front of the fire, but leads into a series of rooms detailing the early life of Mr. Lincoln. Included are actual journals, schoolwork, the axe Lincoln used to split rails. Weighing 7 pounds, with a broad blade, it is said that in later years President Lincoln demonstrated his physical strength by slowly lifting the blade and holding it straight out at shoulder height without a trace of trembling.
On the other side of the lobby is the Presidential exhibit. Beginning with Lincoln's election to the state house, the display leads through all the years of his presidency. In the early years exhibit, we learned that Mr. Lincoln and two friends build a flatboat and floated freight down to New Orleans, where it is thought that he saw the slave auctions that were common in the south. In the presidential exhibit, we see how that formed his policy and eventually, the Emancipation Proclamation. I didn't know until we toured the exhibit that President Lincoln was attacked vehemently by the press and even members of his own Republican Party for his policies. Thought to be leading the country into ruin, political cartoons of the day made him out as a devil and accused him of having secret liaisons with black women.
As the war went on, the attacks grew worse. The war was not going well, and the slave question became even more hotly debated. The Emancipation Proclamation was criticized even after it was issued due to the fact that it only emancipated slaves in the seceded states, but not in the slave states that remained in the Union. That was remedied with the 13th Amendment, but at the time, Lincoln could not do anything right. As the tides of war shifted, and the Union forces began to move forward after General U.S. Grant was recalled from the western front, the criticism waned, and the President's popularity began to rise. Everyone loves a winner.
President Lincoln was doing exactly what he was born to do: politic. He had a knack for being folksy and appearing to be a bit slow, while exercising his masterful political skills to advance his agenda. He is considered one of the first presidents to plan, maneuver, plead and demand his path to the presidency. President Lincoln was a masterful and ruthless politician, even while seeming to be no more than a country boy.
In the Artifact room, displays of crystal used by the Lincoln family in the White House, letters written by President Lincoln requesting jobs or suggesting pardons, the parasol and black scarf used by Mary Lincoln, even a scrap of the dress worn by the leading actress, who was on stage when Lincoln was shot, that contains traces of the Presidents blood, are on display. The actress ran to the President just after the shot and cradled his head in her lap as Mrs. Lincoln was too distraught to see to her husband. There are so many documented artifacts that it's almost overwhelming to know that these were actually used by the Lincoln family or were part of their private or professional life.
We found that the Civil War years were the most emotional for us. There is a large screen showing a map where the extent of the war is shown in detail. In a timeline where a second is equal to a week of War, the video last about four minutes. As the battle lines advance and retreat, and battles are won and lost, there is a meter in the lower right corner of the screen showing casualties on both sides. Total? Over 1,300,000! We watched the video twice because it brought the war into simple to understand terms while underscoring the human cost.
The other exhibit we spent a lot of time in was the wall showing pictures of soldiers of both sides along with the last known letters home that they sent. It is very poignant to put a face to a number. Visitors on all sides of us had tears in their eyes. Very moving.
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