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Special Greeters at the Lincoln Family Church
© Abraham Lincoln OnlineLincoln Presidential Library Dedication Weekend
Day Two: Sunday, November 17, 2002Sunday offered a full round of activities at historic Lincoln sites. We started the day downtown at the First Presbyterian Church, anticipating a special service. The Lincolns attended the church in the 1850s when the congregation met in a different location, but the pew they used has been moved here. This building dates from 1868, three years after Lincoln died.
At mid-morning, brilliant sunlight illuminates the front steps of the church, a few blocks from the Lincoln home. Beside the door costumed actors greet parishioners escaping from the cold air: Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln, portrayed by Fritz Klein and Linda Schneider.
Inside, we pass the old Lincoln pew and enter the sanctuary, admiring the magnificent Tiffany stained glass windows. The service offers a thoughtful mix of traditional worship and faith-related Lincoln writings. The Preparation for Worship features Lincoln's Meditation on the Divine Will ("The will of God prevails...").
We are captivated by the hauntingly beautiful choral anthem by Lee Hoiby. The church commissioned this piece for the dedication of their new organ, and it uses the prayerful text of Lincoln's Farewell Address. The sermon by Lincoln scholar Ronald Reitveld includes references to Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address, which he describes as a "kind of last will and testament to the nation."
"Lincoln" Talks to the Press
© Abraham Lincoln OnlineEvents at the Old State Capitol After lunch we head for the restored capitol building on the downtown city square. Lincoln knew every nook and cranny of this place, especially the Illinois Supreme Court chamber, where he tried many cases as a lawyer. Here actor Joe Woodard, one of the nation's few "beardless" Lincoln presenters, offers a short program in this historic room.
Woodard engages his audience with a dramatized press conference, depicting Lincoln after his 1858 senatorial defeat. He answers questions, tells vintage Lincoln yarns, and reveals political and personal struggles of this turbulent period.
Next we watch Linda Schneider in the Hall of Representatives tell stories from Tad Lincoln's Father. Julia Taft Bayne, who wrote a book by this title, captured bittersweet memories of the Lincoln White House. Her younger brothers played with Willie and Tad Lincoln, and she recounted their antics with vivid detail. She also described the fashion-conscious Mary Lincoln, a distracted President Lincoln, and her stunned brother, who witnessed Lincoln's death.
Actor Don Russell regales us with tales from He Knew Lincoln, the 1907 book by Ida Tarbell. The main character is a Springfield shopkeeper called Billy Brown, who describes Lincoln in local dialect as a master storyteller, a convincing politician, a worried president, and the recipient of the country's most elaborate funeral. "Yes, I knowed Abraham Lincoln; knowed him well," he says, "and I tell you there wan't never a better man made."
>Day Three Highlights
>Day One HighlightsRelated Links
First Presbyterian Church of Springfield
Lincoln Actors
Lincoln Family Church
Lincoln's Faith in God (Great American History)
Looking for Lincoln
New York Avenue Presbyterian Church
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