Lincoln links
Feb. 12 banquet a highlight of Lincoln commemorations
The Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Banquet, the highlight of Illinois commemoration of the 16th president’s 200th birthday, will be held Thursday, Feb. 12, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Springfield.
Sponsors are the Abraham Lincoln Association and the Illinois Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission.
Two receptions are planned. An endowment fund reception will take place from 5 to 6:30 p.m. in the ballroom reception room. Tickets are $100.
The main event will begin with a reception from 6 to 7 p.m. in the ballroom lobby, followed by the banquet in the ballroom. Richard E. Hart, president of the Abraham Lincoln Association will conduct the program .
Reservations at $95 per person may be made by calling (866) 865-8500 or sending an e-mail to maryshepherd.ala@gmail.com.
Everyone who attends the banquet will receive, as a commemorative gift, a hardbound copy of “Lincoln in Illinois,” a book of photographs by Ron Schramm of Lincoln sculptures around the state.
The association also will conduct a symposium, “Age of Lincoln Roundtable,” at 9 a.m. Feb. 12 in the Hall of Representatives at the Old State Capitol.
Michael Burlingame, author of “Abraham Lincoln: A Life,” will lead the discussion among Lincoln scholars Orville Vernon Burton, David R. Contosta, Daniel Walker Howe, Russell McLintock and Elizabeth R. Varon.
Copies of their books for signing may be purchased in the rotunda.
Burlingame will speak during a Lincoln Bicentennial luncheon at 11:30 a.m. Feb. 12, in the President Abraham Lincoln Hotel. Call (217) 558-8934 for reservations at $30.
Exhibits open in Springfield
Two new Lincoln Bicentennial exhibits will open next month at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield.
“The Lincoln Project: Paintings by Don Pollack” may be seen from Sunday, Feb. 8, through May 17 in the Illinois Gallery of the museum.
The exhibit examines the processes of photography and painting, how they affect the recording of history, and what comprises their impact on the personal and collective memory of viewers.
Pollack reinterprets categories of traditional art style in an attempt to reveal the complexity of their representations and to portray a personal narrative of the nation’s 16th president.
“Lincoln in Illinois: Photographs by Ron Schramm” – pictures of Lincoln sculptures throughout the state - will be on display in the library from Thursday, Feb. 12, until Sept. 30.
A continuing exhibit, “The Gettysburg Address,” of original art created by calligrapher and artist Sam Fink for the book by that name, will be in the library through Friday, Jan. 30.
This exhibit opened on Nov. 19, the anniversary of the 1863 speech by Lincoln at the battlefield cemetery dedication.
More Lincoln events
The Springfield Theatre Centre will present performances of “Our American Cousin” at the Hoogland Center for the Arts on Feb. 6, 7 and 8, and Feb. 13, 14 and 15. Call (217) 414-8905 for tickets.
The comedy about American and British manners was being performed at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C., on April 14, 1865, when President Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth.
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The first issuance and sale of four Lincoln Bicentennial stamps will take place Monday, Feb. 9, at the Old State Capitol. Stamped envelopes may be cancelled there with Lincoln Bicentennial postmarks on Feb. 12.
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The anniversary of a Lincoln reception will be commemorated on Tuesday, Feb. 10, in Springfield’s historic Vachel Lindsay Home, once owned by Mary Lincoln’s sister.
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A reenactment of Lincoln’s 1861 farewell address to his Springfield friends will take place at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 11, in the Prairie Capital Convention Center (free).