Abraham Lincoln: Self-Made in America Exhibition

February 23 - May 1, 2012

Frank L. Horton Museum Center

Old Salem Museums and Gardens and the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Museum present a special tribute to the bicentennial through this temporary exhibit.  Abraham Lincoln: Self-Made in America is Illinois’ gift to the nation to commemorate the Lincoln Bicentennial. It will be traveling America throughout 2012 and 2013.

The exhibit studies Lincoln’s life and his identification with the 19th century notion of self improvement.  Lincoln embraced the notion of the self made man rising from obscurity by means of his own talents and energies and applied these ideals to his life. The ideal of being “self-made” worked in Lincoln’s life in ways that still serve as exemplars to 21st century Americans, and characterized America during the nineteenth century. 

The exhibit features reproductions of original artifacts, documents, broadsides, prints and photographs from the museum’s collection of more than 50,000 Lincoln related objects.  Among the objects on display are reproductions of the surveying tools used by Lincoln, an axe used by him at City Point, Virginia, and images of his inauguration.

The Presidential Library's 50,000-item Lincoln collection is one of the world’s largest and contains such things as an original copy of the Gettysburg Address and Lincoln's stove pipe hat.

Admission to the exhibit is included in the All-In-One ticket. Purchase a ticket online

For more information, please call (336) 721-7300.