Tag: Abraham Lincoln

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Lincoln at Gettysburg

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As part of a busy few weeks, I attended the Lincoln Forum in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania just before Thanksgiving. The Forum brings together hundreds of Lincoln enthusiasts and scholars to hear some of the most well-known and respected thinkers in the field. I was lucky enough to meet up with an old friend.

Selfie with George Buss

George Buss has been portraying Lincoln for decades. This year marks his second time commemorating Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address on Remembrance Day, November 19th, the 153rd anniversary of that day.

George Buss and Jon Willen

Photo courtesy of Jon Willen

In the photo above, George is joined by another friend, Jon Willen, who is a retired physician who, appropriately enough, plays a surgeon in Civil War reenactments. Between the two of them, it’s possible that George and Jon have spent more time in the 1860s than in any other decade. They were joined by many others on the battlefield for the commemoration.

Both were also at the Forum itself, with George, ahem, Abraham Lincoln, presenting parts of his first inaugural speech. The Forum also featured keynote presentations by Sidney Blumenthal (author of A Self-Made Man), Ron White, Jr. (American Ulysses), and Bud Robertson, Jr. (“After the Civil War”). Robertson also won the annual Richard Current Nelson Award of Achievement.

Lincoln Forum panel

Of course, there were many more speakers and panels led by Frank J. Williams and Harold Holzer (Chair and Vice Chair, respectively). We heard from Joan Waugh, Craig Symonds, John Marszalek, Richard Brookhiser, Catherine Clinton, Edna Greene Medford, Douglas Egerton, and others. All packed into 2-1/2 days of lectures, meet-and-greets, tours, and even a cooking class.

This was my third year attending the Forum, which I had missed all those years it conflicted in timing with my annual SETAC meeting. Now the Forum is on my calendar for every year forward.

Meanwhile, I’m in the final editing phase of my newest book, Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, due out in 2017.

David J. Kent is the author of Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity (2013) and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World (2016) (both Fall River Press). He has also written two e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate. His next book is on Abraham Lincoln, due out in 2017.

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Prologue – Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America

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Lincoln first inaugurationToday I head up to Gettysburg for the annual Lincoln Forum conference featuring such eminent historians as Frank Williams, Harold Holzer, Sidney Blumenthal, Richard Brookhiser, Edna Greene Medford, and many others.

At the same time I am finishing up the text for my next book, Lincoln: The Man Who Save America, due out in 2017. The following is a snippet from the prologue.

Abraham Lincoln stood beneath the unfinished dome of the United States Capitol, gazing over the crowd gathered below him with melancholy and trepidation. Begun six years earlier to replace the old copper-clad wooden dome, the new cast iron dome augured the duties ahead of him, that of rebuilding the nation. Lincoln was apprehensive, unsure he could accomplish all that awaited him.

The wooden platform constructed on the East side of the building for his inauguration was wet from the morning’s rain, and some people had umbrellas to protect them from the continuing drizzle. The gloomy mood was appropriate, as already between the November elections and March 4, 1861 seven states in the deep South had seceded from the Union. They would be joined by four more shortly after.

Lincoln would give his inaugural address, then be given the oath of the office of the president by Chief Justice Roger Taney, whose Dred Scott decision a few years earlier had further divided the nation and enlarged the growing rift between free states and slave states. Lincoln wondered if he would be able to keep the Union together.

“We must not be enemies. We must be friends.”

Speaking to the South, Lincoln tried to reassure them that “the government will not assail you. You can have no conflict, without yourself being the aggressors.” He pleaded with them not to destroy the goals of the founders, which by establishing the Constitution, was “to form a more perfect union.”

But he was also firm:

“You have no oath registered in Heaven to destroy the government, while I shall have the most solemn one to ‘preserve, protect and defend’ it.” 

After being sworn into office, Lincoln road alone in his carriage up Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House. It would be up to Lincoln over the next four years to find a way to save America.

I’ll have more on the book, and plenty of photos, after my return from the Lincoln Forum.

David J. Kent is the author of Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity (2013) and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World (2016) (both Fall River Press). He has also written two e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate. His next book is on Abraham Lincoln, due out in 2017.

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How Bloomington Illinois Made Abraham Lincoln Great

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I recently returned from a week-long trip to central Illinois, stopping in places where Abraham Lincoln became famous as a lawyer and a politician. Check out Part I and Part II of my travel summaries from that week. The week started in Bloomington, Illinois, and it turns out that this city may very well have brought out the greatness in the man who would become our sixteenth president.

David Davis mansion

David Davis mansion

Lincoln’s first court case in Bloomington took place in 1838, when the 29-year-old lawyer and state legislator was riding the 8th judicial circuit. Bloomington was a stop on that circuit and the home of David Davis, the judge who rode the circuit for six months out of each year with Lincoln and several other lawyers. Davis would go on to be Lincoln’s campaign manager years later when Lincoln ran for president (and during his presidency Lincoln appointed Davis to the U.S. Supreme Court).

The convergence of Purpose

The convergence of Purpose

Another key player in Lincoln’s life was Jesse Fell, a local lawyer, businessman, and founder/editor of the Bloomington Observer (later changed to the Pantagraph, the newspaper greeting us in the hotel lobby today). In the statue above called “The Convergence of Purpose,” Lincoln is joined by Davis and Fell as they discuss the issues of the day, most notably slavery, tariffs, and the railroads. Fell was instrumental in arranging the confluence of two major railroads just north of Bloomington, which is now the sister city of Normal, Illinois.

Jesse Fell telegraph

Jesse Fell telegraph

Fell also had the local telegraph in his office, which was likely the first exposure to this new device for the technology-loving Abraham Lincoln. When Fell wanted to start the first public university (now called Illinois State University) in Normal, it was Lincoln he called in to do all the legal paperwork.

Lincoln presented some 15 of his most important speeches in Bloomington, with his first probably being as early as 1838 when he stood in for his law partner, John T. Stuart, then running for Congress against a certain Stephen A. Douglas. It wouldn’t be the last debate he had with Douglas. In 1854, after listening to Douglas regale the afternoon crowd in support of the recently passed Kansas-Nebraska Act, Lincoln, recently “aroused” back into politics, Lincoln took on giving a rebuttal that evening.

Lincoln-Douglas Debates

Lincoln-Douglas Debates

Bloomington is also the location of Lincoln’s “Lost Speech.” Given in 1856 at the first Illinois Republican Convention, the speech was supposedly so enthralling that reporters present forgot to take notes. An alternative (and perhaps more likely) explanation is that Lincoln asked the hyper-partisan newspapers of the day to suppress the speech, fearing it way too radical for his keen political sense. But perhaps the speech isn’t completely lost? Check the next Lincoln Group of DC Lincolnian for a book that purports to recreate it.

In 1858 Lincoln was trying again for a Senate seat, this time against his old rival Stephen A. Douglas. Bloomington was not one of the seven famed Lincoln-Douglas Debate cities since both candidates had already given speeches there. But according to William Herndon, Lincoln may have given a preview in his Bloomington “Lost Speech” of one of his most famous speeches, which he gave on June 16th that year in Springfield, the one popularly known as the “House Divided” speech:

A house divided against itself cannot stand.

I believe this government cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free.

I do not expect the Union to be dissolved – I do not expect the house to fall – but I do expect it will cease to be divided.

Either the opponents of slavery, will arrest the further spread of it, and place it where the public mind shall rest in the belief that it is in the course of ultimate extinction, or is advocates will push it forward, till it shall become alike lawful in all the States, old as well as new – North as well as South.

There is one other speech Lincoln gave in Bloomington that is of note, though it more accurately should be called a lecture. Always interested in the concept that all men should seek to improve themselves, on April 6, 1858, Lincoln prepared and presented a lecture now referred by the name “Discoveries and Inventions.” The lecture covered a wide range of discoveries (and, of course, inventions) beginning with the “fig leaf apron” of Adam and Eve to how patent laws “added the fuel of interest to the fire of genius.” Apparently the response from the heavily attended Bloomington audience was sufficient to inspire Lincoln to give the lecture several more times, though when he returned to Bloomington a year later for another go at it the lecture had to be cancelled due to poor attendance.

Bloomington would play a large role in making Lincoln president. David Davis, Jesse Fell, Leonard Swett, Asahel Gridley, and others were the prime movers of opinion and action that led to unanimous support by the Illinois delegation for Lincoln’s nomination as the Republican candidate for President in 1860. It’s clear that Bloomington and its influential residents helped make Lincoln great from his days on the 8th judicial circuit through his political speaking appearances and even his lectures on inventions. It was Jesse Fell who prompted the Lincoln-Douglas debates to occur, encouraged Lincoln to run for the presidency, and to whom Lincoln provided his first official biographical account for distribution to eastern newspapers. It was Davis who pulled his substantial weight to garner support and lead the campaign for Lincoln’s nomination and election. Without Bloomington, Illinois, we may never have met Abraham Lincoln.

David J. Kent is the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, now available. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World (both Fall River Press). He has also written two e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

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Visiting Abraham Lincoln’s Illinois – Part II

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Last week I traveled to Lincoln’s Illinois to visit many of the places Abraham Lincoln lived and worked. Mid-week I posted the highlight summaries I had prepared for the Lincoln Group of DC. Today I’m posting Part II – the highlights for the rest of the week. See Part I for the first few days of the trip.

Day 3

Springfield, Illinois. Home of Abraham Lincoln for most of his professional career. And today was mostly (but not exclusively) about the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, one of the most visited Presidential Museums ever. Not bad for a guy who has been dead for 151 years.

Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum

The morning was spent at the Museum portion. Those who have seen museum after museum and think they’ve seen it all are in for a treat because this was like no museum I’ve ever been in. We started with a multimedia video presentation of “Ghosts in the Library” that highlighted the preservation and collections process. A “curator” told us about the discoveries while “ghosts’ of Lincoln, soldiers, and others floated into and out of the action. In the end we were left with both an appreciation of what historians do, and confusion as to whether the curator was real or a holographic image. We still don’t know.

This was followed by a second video-esque presentation of the history of the war and of Lincoln’s actions. Then we started on the main exhibits. Beginning with Lincoln in his log cabin, we experienced the cramped quarters of a one-room log cabin with Lincoln reading against the firelight while one of his kinsman snores in the loft above. From here we followed through his early life up to the time he runs for president. Entering the White House section (with a certain John Wilkes Booth lurking in the shadows), we pass by Mary Lincoln’s dresses and Lincoln’s road to the presidency, including what appears to be a modern day newscast with Tim Russert (of Meet the Press) reporting on the “four way race” for the presidency (replete with campaign ads). The museum did a fantastic job of presenting the material in a fresh and interesting way.

Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum

After a quick lunch at the Feed Store (where Lincoln used to pop in from his law office next door), we met at the Presidential Library where curator James Cornelius gave us all a once in a lifetime, up close and personal, look at some first hand artifacts. Among them were handwritten letters by Lincoln, Mary, Elizabeth Keckly, and Edward Everett, plus a compass and sundial that belonged to Lincoln’s grandfather, and several other one of a kind artifacts. The most intriguing to all of us was the “Everett copy” of the Gettysburg Address in Lincoln’s handwriting as presented to Everett to be sold (along with his handwritten 2-hour Gettysburg speech) as a fundraiser for the U.S. Sanitary Commission.

But our day wasn’t over. Our next stop was the Vachel Lindsay Home. Lindsay was a poet whose most famous poem was called “Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight,” which was marvelously orated by our very own LGDC President John Elliff. From here we walked to the Elijah Iles House. Iles was probably most responsible for the development of Springfield. It was here that LGDC members enjoyed a reception with ALA President Kathryn Harris and many other ALA, Illinois State Archives, Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, and ALA Journal Editors.

We ended the day on our own for dinner, during which some of us enjoyed the local brews at the locally famous Obed & Isaac’s, followed by some fantastic guitar and fiddle playing at, of all places, a local antique shop called “Abe’s Old Hat.”

For those following along, yes, this was yet another amazing day on our tour of Lincoln’s Illinois. And we have two more days to go.

Day 4

Mary Todd courted both Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas on a couch in the home of her sister, Elizabeth Edwards (Note: Not at the same time). That “courting couch” is now in the Benjamin Edwards house in Springfield – and our esteemed traveling Lincoln Group of DC members got to see it today. The incredibly knowledgeable curator of Edwards Place, Erika Holst, guided us through the amazing history of the Edwards family. The Lincoln’s were regular visitors to the house, often listening to Mary’s sister play the piano; in fact, it turns out our LGDC President was closely guarding a secret. After our tour we all gathered back in the parlor where Jane Hartman Irwin sat down and played several tunes that Lincoln likely heard, and on the very same piano on which he heard them.

 

After many LGDC members purchased books and CDs of our experience there, we headed off to the Old State Capitol building (where, incidentally, Barack Obama held both his initial announcement of running for president and his introduction of running-mate Joe Biden). We received an amazing tour of the Capitol building from Stephanie, including the office where the newly elected Lincoln began his search for cabinet members. This was followed by a working lunch/meeting with Sarah Watson, Director of the “Looking for Lincoln” National Heritage Area project. Sarah was instrumental in helping for the planning of this trip.

Lincoln Tomb

And then it was to the Lincoln Tomb, which was a somber thrill for all of us. The tomb, obelisk, and statuary dominates the Oak Ridge Cemetery, and rightfully so. Our guide provided a great deal of history of the tomb and its inhabitants, the entire Lincoln family with the exception of Robert, who is buried in Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, VA. The tomb is imposing by all definitions of the word. Only a short walk away we visited the African American History Museum (AAHM), where we once again met up with Kathryn Harris, President of ALA, in her other role as Board member of AAHM.

Abraham Lincoln (Randy Duncan)But our day still wasn’t over. Our next stop was a whistle stop, or more accurately, the Great Western Depot where President-Elect Lincoln gave his farewell address to the people of Springfield, or those of whom had come out in a misty rain to see him off on his long journey to Washington and his first inauguration. Abraham Lincoln himself (Randy Duncan to his friends) was there to recite his goodbye address. A few hours later (trains must have run a lot faster in those days), Mr. Lincoln joined us on the eve of his inauguration at local eatery Maldaner’s and gave us some insights into “tomorrow’s” speech. He also took questions, as well as interviewed many of us for potential cabinet positions and patronage jobs (I asked to be named environmental minister).

It was a long day, but a productive one. Tomorrow includes our visit to New Salem.

Day 5

Our final day on the Looking for Lincoln tour. It has been a fantastic experience all week, and the last day was more of the same…plus some surprises.

We started at the Illinois State Capitol. Yesterday we were at the Old State Capitol where Lincoln (more or less) was a state legislator. Today was the “New” Capitol building where the current Governor, Attorney General, and legislature meets (in keeping with Washington DC precedent, no one seemed to be working today). David Joens, who is both Director of the Illinois State Archives and Vice President of the Abraham Lincoln Association, gave us a wonderful tour of a truly magnificent building. As might be expected, there were many representations of Lincoln (and that other famous Illinois guy, Stephen A. Douglas) throughout the building. Paintings of the two overlook their respective Republican and Democratic sides of the House chambers.

LGDC at Illinois State Capitol

From there we visited the Dana Thomas House, and we found our first (minor) surprise. We chose the house solely because it was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, not because of any connection to Lincoln, and it was there. Well, it turns out the house often hosted musicians, writers, and poets. Two common guests were Vachel Lindsay, author of the poem “Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight” (where we visited on Wednesday), and Carl Sandburg, another poet but probably best known for his multivolume series on Lincoln, “The Prairie Years” and “The War Years.”

Up next was lunch and a tour of New Salem, the village where Lincoln lived when he first started out on his own. Our guide was Jim Patton, who was lead interpreter of New Salem for many years but came out of his comfortable retirement to personally take us around. Being able to immerse ourselves in village life, seeing the kind of one-room log cabins everyone lived and work in, and checking out the saw and grist mill where Lincoln sometimes worked was an exhilarating experience.

Lincoln the Surveryor at New Salem

Then we received our first huge surprise. Driving into Athens (pronounced AY-thens) we expected only to wave at the Long Nine Museum that we thought was closed. As the bus pulled up to the side of the building, out comes running (okay, walking) 84 year old John Eaton, the owner of the museum. Seems he was just there to check some things out and suddenly our bus pulls alongside. This was an unexpected treat. “The Long Nine,” for those who don’t know, was the nickname given to the nine Representatives from Sangamon County, all of whom were over 6 feet tall. The museum had many artifacts related to Lincoln’s time there, plus a series of dioramas denoting aspects of Lincoln’s life in the area. When we left, John Eaton (who was as surprised as we were) told us we “made his day.” He most certainly made ours.

This unexpected stop put us a bit behind schedule, but we moved on to see prairie grass as Lincoln saw it when he arrived, then drove on to the nearby Funk’s Grove. Since this final stop was supposedly going to replace the Long Nine we really didn’t have much of an expectation. They did have a small Lincoln document collection, but we were all absolutely delighted to find an even bigger connection to Lincoln. It turns out the patriarch, Isaac Funk, was a close friend not only of Abraham Lincoln but of David Davis, Jesse Fell, Asahel Gridley, and other key figures in Lincoln’s life on the circuit. In fact, Davis invited Isaac Funk up to the Wigwam in Chicago that nominated Lincoln to the presidency. Isaac also gave a hugely controversial (and blunt) anti-Copperhead speech during his wartime service in the Illinois legislature. The Funks were definitely ahead of their time as they founded the first land grant college in Illinois, electrified the house in 1910, long before anyone in the midwest knew anything about electricity (Isaac’s grandson Deloss had personal consultations with both Tesla and Edison), taught the latest in farming and agriculture, and were pioneers in the development of hybrid corn, wheat, and other better producing crops.

Phew. We had a week packed with activities, following Lincoln around central Illinois. Many thanks to John and Linda Elliff, Bob Willard, and others who helped plan a fantastic trip. Everyone heads back home to DC where we’ll begin planning the next experiences for the Lincoln Group of DC.

 

Fire of Genius

Lincoln: The Fire of Genius: How Abraham Lincoln’s Commitment to Science and Technology Helped Modernize America is available at booksellers nationwide.

Limited signed copies are available via this website. The book also listed on Goodreads, the database where I keep track of my reading. Click on the “Want to Read” button to put it on your reading list. Please leave a review on Goodreads and Amazon if you like the book.

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David J. Kent is President of the Lincoln Group of DC and the author of Lincoln: The Fire of Genius: How Abraham Lincoln’s Commitment to Science and Technology Helped Modernize America and Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America.

His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two specialty e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

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Visiting Abraham Lincoln’s Illinois – Part I

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I’m currently with the Lincoln Group of DC on a tour of Lincoln’s Illinois. I’ve been filing reports to LGDC members who didn’t make the trip, so here are some highlights of our first couple of days.

Day 0

Twenty-three Lincoln Group of DC members came by planes, trains, and automobiles from DC, California, and even the Pacific Northwest to Bloomington, Illinois. The reason? To experience Abraham Lincoln’s Illinois, from the towns that he practiced law on the circuit, to where he gave some of his most famous speeches, and to the tomb that holds his body. This first day was a day of gathering. Trickling in throughout the day, we met as a group for the first time Sunday evening and introduced ourselves. Former Abraham Lincoln Association (ALA) President Bob Lenz welcomed us to Bloomington, the home of David Davis, a Lincoln confidante on the circuit, campaign manager, and eventual Supreme Court Justice who would go on to write a famous decision declaring some of Lincoln’s acts unconstitutional. We’ll hear more about that tomorrow.

Each day we’ll provide an update on where we’ve been and some of the people we’ve met. As the week progresses we’ll spend time in riding the 8th circuit, seeing Lincoln (the city), Atlanta (the Illinois city, not the Georgia one), various sites around Springfield (including the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum), New Salem, and wave to the Long Nine Museum on our way to Funk’s Grove.

Day 1

Our first full day was spectacular. Starting in Bloomington, we were joined on our bus by Bob Lenz and Guy Fraker, author of Lincoln’s Ladder to the Presidency: The Eighth Judicial Circuit (http://www.lincolnsladder.com/) There is nothing better than having the expert on the eighth circuit giving a running commentary as we tour Lincoln’s life on that very same eighth circuit.

Our first stop was David Davis’s mansion. Davis was the Judge on the 8th Circuit, and along with Abraham Lincoln and other lawyers, twice per year rode on horseback (or by carriage for the hefty Davis) for three months, going from county to county taking care of trials. David Davis would later be instrumental in getting Lincoln the Republican nomination in 1860, and Lincoln the President named Davis a US Supreme Court Justice.

Davis Lincoln Fell

But Davis wasn’t the only 8th circuit colleague who was important in Lincoln’s life. One of our stops was the Jumonville statue of Lincoln, Davis, and Jesse Fell, called “The Convergence of Purpose.” Fell was a lawyer, banker, land owner, and editor of a key Republican paper that promoted Lincoln. It was to Fell that Lincoln sent his first handwritten biography that helped the eastern states know more about Lincoln. We also stopped at the McLean County Historical Museum where Bill Kemp regaled us with Lincoln’s connections to the area. Bob Lenz then gave us a great walking tour of the neighborhood. We also got an impromptu look at Guy Fraker’s office, filled with some amazing Lincoln artifacts and photos.

And that was just the morning. After lunch we boarded the bus and winded our way along the side roads following Lincoln’s horse beats on the circuit. We saw the small shed on the Hoblit Farm Lincoln slept in, checked out the county line markers, and visited in two of the courthouses on the circuit. At Mt. Pulaski we not only got a tour, we got jokes – Lincoln’s favorite jokes and stories – well told. Our group of Lincoln scholars got a lot of laughs along with a lot of information.

We wrapped up with dinner in Atlanta (the one in Illinois, not Georgia). Our long day started at 8 am and ended when we checked into our hotel in Lincoln, Illinois at 8 pm. Being able to follow Lincoln along the 8th circuit routes was a transcendental day for all of us. Book learning and lectures are great for learning facts, but traveling the places where Lincoln walked is best for experiencing the feeling of the era. Add the incomparable insights all day long from Bob Lenz and Guy Fraker. There is nothing better.

Day 2

Lincoln CollegeOur second full day began at the Lincoln Heritage Museum on the campus of Lincoln College in, Lincoln, Illinois, of course. We were greeted by Director Tom McLaughlin and Assistant Director and Curator Anne Mosely, who gave us a primer on the museum. The first floor was a standard museum format, with a series of displays showing artifacts and history of Lincoln’s life. The second floor gave us one of the most unique museum experiences we’ve ever seen. You begin by joining the Lincoln’s in their box at Ford’s Theatre watching as the assassination unfolds. Several LGDC members virtually reached out to grab Booth as the fatal shot was fired as the multimedia visuals unfolded. From there we moved room to room on a timed basis, with doors to the next room opening automatically as each vignette finished. Sophisticated choreographing in time with strategic lightly and voices from the skies provided a multimedia look at each aspect of Lincoln’s life. It truly was a unique presentation.

After a quick lunch at the locally famous Blue Dog Inn we walked across the street to a statue of a watermelon. Yes, watermelon. Because the town was named after Lincoln when he was still alive, and no where near famous, Lincoln was asked to christen the town, which he duly did by hacking open a watermelon and ceremonially spilling the watermelon juice onto the ground.

 

 

Lincoln House
Back on the road we stopped next at the Lincoln Home National Historic Site. The Lincoln’s lived for 17 years at 413 S 8th Street in Springfield. Three of their sons were born there, and one of them died. Our group received a personal tour of the home, a house that receives as many as 900-1000 people on its busiest day. Along with the Lincoln house are four blocks of 1860-period restored buildings, each with their own story to tell.

Two doors down is the National Park Service Conference Center, where we gathered to hear from two of the greatest names in Springfield and Lincoln scholarship – Dick Hart and Wayne C. Temple. Hart is an expert on Springfield and talked a bit out his newest book, “Lincoln’s Springfield Neighborhood.” We were surprised to find that the neighborhood was incredibly diverse, with a vibrant African-American community as well as Irish, German, Portuguese, and others. Among the stories Dick told was the story of Jameson Jenkins, a free black man living 1/2 a block form the Lincoln’s and who became good friends with Abraham. Following Dick was the incomparable Wayne C. Temple. Retired from the Illinois State Archives earlier this year after 51 years of service – and at 92 years of age – Wayne is still a wonderful story teller, funny and insightful. A protege of J.G. Randall, Wayne Temple was the impetus for the Lincoln Day-by-Day project in 1959, which the Lincoln Group of DC helped bring to fruition. In fact, Wayne said he was incredibly proud to have worked with us and acknowledged that Day-by-Day never would have happened without the LGDC. He further suggested that there are plenty of gaps that perhaps we could work to fill in even today.

It continues to be a thrill to all of us on the trip to hear from some of the great Lincoln scholars in the area. And we’ve only just begun. Tomorrow – the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum.

READ PART II HERE

Pre-order Lincoln: The Fire of Genius now on Amazon and Barnes and Noble (click on the respective links to pre-order). The price is likely to drop before the final shipment, and any pre-orders will automatically get charged the lower price at fulfillment. Pre-ordering now helps the publisher get a sense of the interest, which could mean a bigger print run. So please go ahead and pre-order without worries. While you’re there, check out my other books.

The book is also listed on Goodreads, the database where I keep track of my reading. Click on the “Want to Read” button to put it on your reading list. That will also ensure you get informed of the release date AND will let you try for one of ten free hardcover copies of the book that I’ll be giving away this summer. I’ll also be giving away as many as a hundred e-books. [The book will also be put out on audio]

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David J. Kent is President of the Lincoln Group of DC and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity andEdison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two specialty e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Check out my Goodreads author page. While you’re at it, “Like” my Facebook author page for more updates!

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Third Year Reflections of a Science Traveler

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DominicaThis month marks the third year anniversary on the best decision ever made. In 2013 I made the decision to leave my long-time scientific career to become a science traveler. I didn’t leave the science, merely the part that paid well. I took up traveling and writing and in other ways bringing science and history to life. Last year I reflected again on reaching a second anniversary. And suddenly it has been three years. As they say, time flies.

It has been an amazing experience. I’ve seen places I had never thought I would see, met people I never knew existed, and written books I never thought I would write. Along the way I’ve grown as a writer, a traveler, and a person. At least I hope the latter is true.

One of the major uncertainties of a writing life is whether anyone will ever read what you write. I’ve been lucky. That first book on Nikola Tesla published just as I was embarking on this adventure is now into its 7th printing, has been translated into several foreign languages, and is a continuing success (figuratively) flying off the shelves at Barnes and Noble. Because of its success I now have a follow up book on Edison, which now sits side-by-side in Barnes and Noble with Tesla and has had strong initial sales. And now I’m working on a third book in the same style on my other major interest – Abraham Lincoln. That book should come out in 2017.

When I’m not writing (or reading), I’m traveling. This year saw two epic trips in the sense of adding to my “countries visited” list. Early in the year I took a sailing cruise to the Caribbean. Not one of those huge floating hotel ships, this was a smaller sailing cruise liner with only about 250 passengers. The second was to the Balkan countries of Serbia, Montenegro, and Croatia. While there I got to meet with the Prince and Princess of Serbia (technically they are King and Queen but go by the lower titles due to the politics of their former exile). There were other trips as well, including San Antonio/Carlsbad Caverns and a research visit at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library. I’m going back out to Illinois next week to see other Lincoln sites in New Salem, Lincoln (the city), and Bloomington.

There were some glitches this year as well. After decades of generally good health I found myself in and out of hospitals and doctors offices for a variety of mostly unrelated issues. The biggest was eye surgery to remove a tumor (benign!) in my right orbit that had my eye bulging out like Marty Feldman’s Igor from Young Frankenstein. Because I’m still officially in recovery (surgery was less than a month ago) it led to postponement of a planned October trip to China. No worries, I’ll do it next year.

Speaking of next year, the tentative travel plans include not only the aforementioned China (and South Korea), but hopefully Machu Picchu and one or two of a dozen other possibilities on my list. The Lincoln book I’m writing now should be in the stores next year. As soon as that manuscript is submitted I’ll return to my original Lincoln and science book project, which should put it on a schedule to come out in 2018. I already have the next book topic lined up; more on that when it gets closer.

So on to the fourth year of a Science Traveler life!

David J. Kent is the author of Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity (2013) and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World (2016) (both Fall River Press). He has also written two e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

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The Book Stack Photo

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Recently I took a photo of a stack of my published books. The idea came from seeing a similar stack from my friend Chris DeRose, a multiple Abraham Lincoln author and currently running for City Council in Phoenix, Arizona. Now that I have multiple books myself (and another on the way), it seemed a good time to create this:

cropped-Book-stack-1.jpg

The books are shown in order of publication, with the newest on the top. Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World (2016) and Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity (2013) are both published by Fall River Press, an imprint of Sterling Publishing in New York. You can find them in Barnes and Noble stores and online now. Edison just came out and Tesla is now into its 7th printing, not to mention several foreign language editions.

In between there are two e-books published by Amazon for Kindle. Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate (2015) came about because as I researched both of these great mean I noticed some amazing connections between them in science, art, the environment, and more. Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time (2014) takes a deeper look into a topic I only touched on in Tesla, his desire to harness the forces of nature for the benefit of mankind.

The idea of writing books actually started with a photo book I published in 2010. Adventures in Europe documents some of my travels while I was living in Brussels, Belgium for three years. Of course, there has been much more travel since 2010, some of which I’ve talked about on this page. I’ll have many more Science Traveler stories so keep checking back for new ones.

The book stack photo joins my revolving cast of photos that serve as headers on this page. You can read more about the photos here.

Finally, the stack will get bigger next summer as my newest book for Fall River Press, Abraham Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, is due to be released in 2017.

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Tesla and Edison in Barnes and Noble

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I’ve been offline a lot lately due to a major eye surgery and ensuing inflammation. But while I’ve been a bit down and out, my Tesla and Edison books have been in Barnes and Noble bookstores.

Tesla and Edison in BN August 28 2016

Tesla bottom middle; Edison top right

For a while they weren’t being displayed because B&N wanted to promote their ridiculously overwhelming selection of “adult coloring books.” Yes, we’ve reached the point where adults actually have regressed to the point where any words are too many words. Luckily the coloring book phase seems to be winding down and they’ve put out both of my books. So run down to your local store and check them out.

Meanwhile, I’m busy working on my next book in the same style – on Abraham Lincoln!

I’ll write more shortly. The swelling of my eye has gone down enough for me to make short forays onto my laptop, but I should be up and writing full time again in the next few days.

David J. Kent is the author of Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity (2013) and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World (2016) (both Fall River Press). He has also written two e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

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Thomas Edison the Movie Mogul

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Along with his many other inventions, Thomas Edison invented (or at least marketed) motion picture cameras and films. I cover the history of the inventions in my book, Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World, but one fascinating aspect that most people may not be aware of is that Edison was the first movie mogul.

Black Maria

The first experimental films were shot in the West Orange laboratory, but as motion pictures gradually became more professional, Edison needed a professional studio in which to film. In December 1892, construction began behind Building 4 on a studio that Edison later remembered as “a ghastly proposition for a stranger daring enough to brave its mysteries.” Covered in black tar paper inside and out, it was dubbed the Black Maria after the slang term for the police paddy wagons of the day it resembled. Not coincidentally, it looked like Marey’s “barnlike studio” Edison had seen during his 1889 visit:

“It obeys no architectural rules, embraces no conventional materials, and follows no accepted schemes of color,” boasted the sometimes flamboyant Dickson of the Black Maria. He did admit it had “a weird and semi-nautical appearance.”

The Black Maria was a “fifty-by-eighteen-foot wood building with a twenty-one-foot-high pitched roof.” It also had two rather unique features. The first was the roof: “Half of the roof could be raised or lowered like a drawbridge by means of ropes, pulleys and weights, so that the sunlight could strike squarely on the space before the machine [i.e., the motion picture camera].” The studio had to allow in sunlight, even though it was outfitted with electricity; Edison’s incandescent bulbs were not bright enough for filmmaking, and arc lighting was too harsh. This need for light led to the second odd feature: The whole building was mounted “on a graphite pivot that allowed the staff to turn the studio on a wood track.” As the sun arced across the sky during the day, they simply turned the building to keep pace. Edison wistfully noted in later years how the building could “turn like a ship in a gale.”

Life of Abraham Lincoln still

Using this odd studio, Edison’s team – led by William K. L. Dickson, a natural showman – created thousands of films. Most were short; Fred Ott’s Sneeze was all of 5 seconds long. But eventually they grew to longer, though “longer” meant 10 minutes for The Great Train Robbery and 15 minutes for The Life of Abraham Lincoln.

Motion pictures quickly became a huge money maker for Edison, but just as quickly dropped off in value as competitors focused on longer movies while Edison was distracted by his many other endeavors.

]The above is adapted from Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World, in Barnes and Noble stores and online now. Read more about Thomas Edison and the book by clicking here.]

David J. Kent is the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, now available. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World (both Fall River Press). He has also written two e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

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Tesla to Edison to Lincoln Redux

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Early in the history of Science Traveler I wrote a post called “Tesla to Edison to Lincoln – Connecting the Dots.” It turns out that post was more prophetic than I ever could have imagined.

At the time I was still writing my book on Nikola Tesla, which was released in the summer of 2013. Three years later Tesla is into its 7th printing, is still selling well in Barnes and Noble stores, and has been translated into several foreign languages.

The success of Tesla led the publication of my book on Thomas Edison, which hit Barnes and Noble stores a couple of weeks ago (late July 2016). Future books in the series a possibility.

The popularity of my science series books has inspired the publisher to expand into a series on key historical figures. Among the first to be tackled is Abraham Lincoln. Since I’ve long been a history buff, in particular Abraham Lincoln (I have over 1200 Lincoln books on my shelf), it looks like I’ll be writing the first in the series.

Tesla to Edison to Lincoln!

Tesla Edison Lincoln

I’ll have more details once they get ironed out. The anticipated release date is sometime in 2017, but keep checking back here for updates. And look for my Tesla and Edison books in stores now!

David J. Kent is the author of Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity (2013) and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World (2016) (both Fall River Press). He has also written two e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

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