Lincoln Legacy Exhibition
Exhibit opens Fall 2013
- Please help the Idaho State Historical Society create the Lincoln Legacy Exhibition at the Idaho State History Center! Donate by using our convenient online process.
With statewide activities undertaken from 2007-2009, the Idaho Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission told the story of the sixteenth President’s personal connection to Idaho Territory and the state through a traveling exhibition that served over 300,000 school children and visitors statewide. When this exhibition was featured at the Idaho State Archives, hundreds of schoolchildren attended; this inspired donors David and Nancy Leroy in 2012 to bequest their collection to the Idaho State Historical Society, and request that the materials gifted to the State of Idaho be available to school children, families, and the public via exhibition.
The collection is arguably the most significant grouping of contemporary artifacts ever assembled relating to the relationship of Abraham Lincoln and the Rocky Mountain West. No institution, public or private, national or regional, can duplicate the 1,500 tangible objects, books, letters, photographs, publications, cartoons, relics, paintings, statuary, campaign mementos, association pieces and Lincoln family items now part of the collection of the Idaho State Archives.
Permanent Exhibition at the Idaho History Center provides public access to incredibly unique materials
Unique items slated for display include Lincoln’s signed appointment of the first territorial Chief Justice; Lincoln’s signed appointment of the second territorial Governor; Lincoln’s remarks to Congress in 1863 and 1864 reporting on the progress made in organizing Idaho Territory; and the Order of Procession for the President’s funeral parade in Chicago on May 1, 1865, listing the Honorable William H. Wallace of Idaho Territory as a Member of Congress in attendance.
Visitors will enter the exhibition through a reconstruction of the Lincoln-era Cabinet Room where President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation in the White House. The reconstructed Cabinet Room will contain replica furnishings, fixtures and wall coverings. Visitors will exit through the last gallery depicting the Presidential Box in Ford’s Theater where President Lincoln was assassinated. In between, visitors will explore four more exhibition galleries exploring the chronological and topical depiction of Lincoln’s life, achievements, and relations with the West.
Help the ISHS make a difference to school children and tourists
The Research Center at the Idaho State Archives is first and foremost an educational center. Our impact goes beyond traditional scholars to reach life-long learners. This exhibition will have immediate impact on visitors to the Research Center and will provide a new, unique way to serve school groups, researchers, and tourists and visitors of all ages. The exhibition will be free and accessible to all, without barriers. Lincoln himself was a youth with no advatagage. His rise to become a great leader and humanitarian make him the perfect role model for today’s youth and society.
Count me in! I want to GET TERRITORIAL and help create the Lincoln Legacy Exhibition at the following level:
- Up to $500 Contributor
- $500 Youth
- $1000 Candidate
- $2500 Legislator
- $5000 Idaho
- $10,000 Territory
- $20,000 Emancipator
- $50,000 President
Donate by using our convenient online process.
For detailed benefits for sponsor levels, please contact Executive Director Janet L. Gallimore, at 208-334-4566 or view the report.
