The Abraham Lincoln Center for the Study of Leadership and Public Policy

04/12/2026

What's new over at the Lincoln Ledger? Today's post includes a reflection by historian Kevin M. Levin on the 150th Anniversary of the dedication of the Freedmen's Memorial in Lincoln Park in Washington, D.C.

This April 11th marked the 150th anniversary of the dedication of the Freedmen's Memorial located in Lincoln Park, just east of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. This statues was funded by former slaves to honor President Abraham Lincoln for breaking the chains of slavery and gave them t...

04/07/2026

Join Lincoln Presidential Foundation, in partnership with Southern Illinois University Press, on Thursday, May 7, 2026, for a special U.S. 250th Anniversary panel discussion featuring contributors to the Concise Lincoln Library book series from SIU Press, including series editor Sylvia Frank Rodrigue and scholars John C. Rodrigue, Edna Greene Medford, and Lucas E. Morel.

This exciting series brings together expert scholars to elaborate on the life, times, and legacy of Abraham Lincoln. Through short, focused books, each concentrating on a different area of Lincoln’s life and career, the Concise Lincoln Library brings fresh perspectives to well-known topics, investigates previously overlooked subjects, and explores in greater depth topics that have not yet received book-length treatment.

📅 When: Thursday, May 7th, 2026
🕕 Time: 7:00 PM CST
🔗 Register here (link in bio): https://bit.ly/LincolnAndTheAmericanExperiment

04/01/2026

Join us for Liberty’s Path - America’s Path to 250, a free, family-friendly event on April 17 & 18. Experience living history camps from the Revolutionary War to modern military service, hands-on demonstrations, guest speakers, student wax museum exhibits, local food vendors, and more.

Bring the whole family and be part of the story!

Story linked in the comments 🔗

01/28/2026

On this date in 1838, Abraham Lincoln delivered his famous Lyceum Address in which he warned his audience that the greatest danger to American democracy was not posed by an external threat of invasion, but rather internal. The young Railsplitter issued a call for civic engagement as he challenged his audience to uphold the principles of the Constitution to preserve the nation's democratic institutions from those who sought to cast aside self-government.

Check out the latest post in the Lincoln Ledger for more on Lincoln's Lyceum Address, including a brief documentary that provides historical context for the growing crisis in the nation that Lincoln addressed in his speech.

188 years today, 28-year-old state legislator and lawyer, Abraham Lincoln, delivered his first significant speech to the Young Men's Lyceum in Springfield, Illinois. Lincoln's Lyceum Address was titled, "The Perpetuation of Our Political Institutions." The young Whig added his voice to a swelling ch...

01/19/2026

Today, we honor and celebrate the life and legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. The Lincoln Center's, "Lincoln Ledger" has shared a brief essay from historian Kevin M. Levin that recounts how King's famous 1963 "I Have a Dream" was a challenge to the nation to reflect on whether the promises born out of Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation and the American Civil War had truly been fulfilled one hundred years later.

Today, we honor and remember the life and legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. This federal holiday, signed into law in 1983 by President Ronald Reagan, is dedicated to promoting equality, justice, and service, reflecting King's legacy and his noteworthy contributions to the civil rights movement and h...

01/19/2026

Offices are closed today as Lincoln Memorial University honors the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., whose work was inspired by the ideals of Abraham Lincoln. His call to service continues to guide our mission.

“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’” -MLK Jr.

01/07/2026

Thomas Lincoln, the father of , was born in 1778 in Virginia. He grew up poor, illiterate, and never made much money as a farmer. However, Thomas became a skilled carpenter. And although he had a complicated relationship with his bookish son, Thomas lived long enough to see Abraham become a successful lawyer and politician, winning a seat in the United States Congress. For more on Thomas Lincoln, see: https://www.nps.gov/people/thomas-lincoln.htm

Did you know that the only known photograph of Thomas Lincoln is part of the rich collection housed at the Abraham Lincoln Library and Museum at Lincoln Memorial University? Moreover, the collection includes a corner cupboard crafted by Thomas that legend has it, fell from the family's wagon as they crossed a swollen river near Mill Creek, Kentucky on their journey north into Indiana. Lincoln scholar and LMU professor R. Gerald McMurtry purchased the cupboard in 1938 and donated it to LMU's Lincoln collection. See former ALLM Assistant Director and Curator Steven Wilson briefly discuss Thomas Lincoln and the corner cupboard in the following "Lincoln Moment": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdN3IjAWFXw

01/07/2026

When John Wilkes Booth shot President Abraham Lincoln, he used a Philadelphia Deringer pistol.

Designed by Henry Deringer, the gun was small and easy to hide. The idea was that a Deringer owner could appear respectable while still being armed. Due to their small size, Philadelphia Deringers could only fire one shot at a time. Despite this, they were incredibly popular. To this day, small single-shot pistols are referred to as “derringers.”

After firing the shot that killed Lincoln, Booth dropped his gun on the floor of the president's box. A bystander found the gun and turned it over to police later that night. The pistol later served as evidence in the trial of the Lincoln conspirators. It remained in the War Department archives until 1940, when it was first displayed at Ford's Theatre. It remains on display in the Ford's Theatre museum today.



Photo of John Wilkes Booth's Deringer by NPS

01/01/2026

On New Years Day of 1863, President Abraham Lincoln signed the most important order of his Presidency: the Emancipation Proclamation.

Lincoln had attended a busy reception that morning, where he spent over three hours shaking hands. When Lincoln lifted his pen to sign the proclamation, his hand trembled. He set the pen back down.

“If my name ever goes into history it will be for this act,” Lincoln said. He knew that if his signature was shaky, “all who examine the document hereafter will say, ‘He hesitated.’” After a moment, Lincoln lifted the pen again and boldly signed the page.

The proclamation declared that all people enslaved in rebellious parts of the country were “then, thenceforward, and forever free.” It did not free people enslaved in Union-held territories or in border states like Kentucky and Maryland.

Nonetheless, the proclamation marked a major turning point, not only in the war, but in the U.S. government's approach to slavery. Emancipation was the way forward. There was no going back.



Photo of Lincoln at his desk from the White House Historical Association

12/30/2025

Happy 217th birthday to President Lincoln's 1864 running mate and vice president, Andrew Johnson. 🎂

Lincoln and Republican party leaders put the Democrat from East Tennessee on the ticket to emphasize their desire to promote preservation of the Union, emancipation, and a bipartisan agreement towards a just and lenient peace. Johnson, a War Democrat and fierce proponent of the Union and who was the only Southern U.S. Senator not to leave Congress when their state seceded, became a firm supporter of the Railsplitter's wartime policies and even emancipation, as he freed his own slaves ahead of the election.

12/26/2025

The recent volume of The Civil War Monitor features the Railsplitter on its cover. Our Executive Director will review the featured article by Historian Kenneth W. Noe in an upcoming post on the Lincoln Ledger.