This winter the nation will remember the bloodiest conflict in U.S. history – the Civil War. What was it like for President Abraham Lincoln as he took over the reins of the presidency at the same time that plans were being made to fire on Fort Sumter?

While many working in agriculture remember things about Lincoln such as the fact that he established the Department of Agriculture, it is sometimes forgotten all the trouble he had to go through to achieve anything during a term so filled with trial and tribulation.

Doris Kearns Goodwin’s book Team of Rivals is the basis for the new exhibit at the Abraham Lincoln Library in Springfield, Ill. The exhibit through the book offers insight through the experiences of Lincoln’s closest advisors, to illuminate Lincoln’s leadership.

It is interesting to see the exhibit titled “The Cost of Secession.” The digital map highlights the various federal landmarks that were seized by the Confederacy and their impact on the Union. Examples include the Dahlonega Mint, the USS Merrimack, the Richmond (Va.) Customs House and many others.
The website www.alplm.org/events/team_of_rivals.html shares: “A combination of compelling artifacts, images and audio/visual presentations introduces you to the powerful personalities who advised the President and brings to life those fateful days when a divided nation teetered on the brink ... then toppled into the dark abyss of civil war …”

The exhibit will be in place until Aug. 25. Viewing the exhibit makes the rest of the museum tour take on new meaning, with the realization that from day one, Lincoln had challenges that most presidents never had to face during their entire term. Not only was the country going to war, but it was his country splitting in half.

Currently there is a live presentation being offered in the Union Theater titled “One Destiny,” a play by Richard Hellesen that revisits April 14, 1865, and the events surrounding the tragic assassination of Abraham Lincoln. The play is through an actor’s eye, who was to act at Ford’s Theater, and the theater manager and co-owner.

The actor arrives and soon after, the assassination takes place. The two characters wonder out loud whether they could have changed the course of history. They ask the question: “Could John Wilkes Booth have been stopped?”
Hellesen was commissioned to write this one-act play, that lasts a scarce 45 minutes and is comprised of only the two actors. “One Destiny” takes place on an afternoon a week after Lincoln died, on stage at the shuttered Ford’s Theatre, which would not reopen for 100 years.

Even for those who have been to the museum before, if a history buff or Lincoln admirer, taking in these two new elements at one time provides an insightful visit. The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library & Museum is located at 212 North Sixth St., Springfield, IL 62701. Call 217-558-8844 for more details or log onto www.alplm.org/visit/home.html

Readers with questions or comments for Cindy Ladage may write to her in care of this publication.