My whole life I have been obsessed with Abraham Lincoln. I'm not sure when it started, but I do know that when I was eight years old my family took a trip to Virginia and my parents made a special trip to Ford's Theater just for me. I've since been back several times. For some reason, Lincoln's assassination has always been fascinating for me, not because I'm morbid but because the concept of a president killed was so foreign to me. And the country seemed to grind a little bit to a stop in April 1865 because of the people's tie to a man they had never met...or in most cases, even seen.
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| Abraham Lincoln's hearse in Chicago, Illinois. Photo from Library of Congress, LC-DIG-ppmsca-19202. |
I found a link to the 2015 Lincoln Funeral Coalition
here. To commemorate the sesquicentennial of Lincoln's assassination, the city of Springfield, Illnios will be reenacting Lincoln's burial from the arrival of his remains via train to the funeral itself. It sounds like a very interesting event and I may just have to been in Springfield in three years.
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| "Nashville," one of several train engines that brought Lincoln's body from Washington, D.C. to Springfield, Illinois. Photo from the Library of Congress, LC-DIG-ppmsca-23855. |
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Lincoln funeral train time card from Chicago to Springfield. Photo from the The Alfred Whital Stern Collection of
Lincolniana, Library of Congress.
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1 comment:
Thanks so much for posting about this. We're Civil War re-enactors going to Gettysburg next year for the 150th, but it hadn't even occurred to me that there would be something for the 150th anniversary of Lincoln's assassination! Like you, I've got an avid fascination with Lincoln and his death. Visited Springfield a few years ago -- at last -- and now I'm thinking we may have to go again for this. And we can wear our re-enactor clothing. Colleen (in Washington state)
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