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Press Release: August 5, 2010

National Archives at Kansas City

National Archives Features Two Exhibitions on the Life of Abraham Lincoln

Kansas City, (MO)…On August 27 the National Archives will open two exhibitions celebrating the life of Abraham Lincoln. Abraham Lincoln: Self-Made in America is a traveling exhibit featuring reproduction artifacts from the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, Illinois. Lincoln Lives On is an exhibit created by the National Archives at Kansas City featuring original materials from the local community.

Created to commemorate the 200th anniversary and birth of one of America’s best presidents Abraham Lincoln: Self-Made in America is a learning station exhibition and covers Lincoln’s childhood, self-education, careers as a surveyor and lawyer, family life, political career, election to the Presidency, and his assassination. The reproduction artifacts on display, all modeled from originals in the Presidential Library and Museum, include: Lincoln’s favorite books; his son Tad’s toy cannon; the nameplate from his Springfield home; his stovepipe hat, which he used like a briefcase to hold important papers; a Presidential campaign banner; an axe that Lincoln used to chop wood; the bloody gloves found in Lincoln’s pocket the night of his assassination; and many other unique and interesting items.

Lincoln Lives On explores how Abraham Lincoln’s persona has been built up to create a larger than life figure over the past 145 years, and examines the man behind the myth. Telling Lincoln’s story from a local perspective, the exhibit features original letters, signed documents, photographs, campaign buttons, and more from the holdings of the National Archives at Kansas City, Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum, University of Saint Mary, and private collections.

Abraham Lincoln, the son of a subsistence farmer, came of age during a dramatic transformation in America’s economic life. Like many of his contemporaries, he embraced a new emphasis on personal initiative, risk-taking, and ambition. He was only 22 when he left his family home to find his own way. After enduring a series of personal failures in business, he became a prosperous attorney, devoted husband and father, successful politician, and, finally, the 16th President of the United States. While Lincoln benefited from close association with a number of powerful friends, his own talents and ambitions combined with hard work and a dedication to self-improvement to produce a unique American specimen - the self-made man.

Additional Information

Abraham Lincoln: Self-Made in America and Lincoln Lives On are free exhibitions. Abraham Lincoln: Self-Made in America will be on display through September 24, 2010, and Lincoln Lives On will run through October 30, 2010. Abraham Lincoln: Self-Made in America was created to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the birth of America’s greatest president by the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum. The We, the People program of the National Endowment for the Humanities, a Federal agency, provided major financial support for the exhibition and accompanying programs. The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation and the History Channel provided additional financial and in-kind support. For additional information call 816-268-8000 or visit the Central Plains web site.

The National Archives at Kansas City is one of 13 facilities nationwide where the public has access to Federal archival records. It is home to more than 50,000 cubic feet of historical records dating from the 1820s to the 1990s created or received by nearly 100 Federal agencies. Serving the Central Plains Region, the archives holds records from the states of Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota. The facility is located at 400 West Pershing Road, Kansas City, MO 64108. It is open to the public Tuesday - Saturday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. for research, with the exhibits open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, call 816-268-8000 or visit us online.

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