Robert Lincoln – David J. Kent

Hildene, Manchester, Vermont The Lincoln Forum meets annually in November in Gettysburg, PA. But in 2025 the Forum started a new tradition – a spring symposium at Robert Lincoln’s home in Manchester, Vermont he called Hildene. I attended the first meeting and I’m officially on the program as a speaker for the 2026 program running from May 1 to 3, 2026.

Here is the link for more information and to register for the Lincoln Forum Spring Symposium at Hildene: https://www.thelincolnforum.org/

Definitely get your registration in now and get a room in the historic Equinox Hotel, where Mary Lincoln and Robert stayed during the Civil War. The full program schedule will be coming soon on the Forum website, but confirmed speakers include Lois Romano and Jason Emerson discussing Mary Lincoln and Craig Symonds talking about Black emigrants. I will be discussing my new ride-along book, Lincoln in New England: In Search of His Forgotten Tours. There will also be a special panel of presidential descendants, including those of Ulysses S. Grant, Grover Cleveland, and Theodore Roosevelt.

I’ve written a bit about Hildene before. Check out Mary and Robert Go to Manchester, Vermont and Robert Lincoln’s Observatory at Hildene.

The Hildene event will also offer something very special – a behind the scenes look at the Lincoln archives! This is not to be missed, so register now.

I have other events coming up as well, including an interview today that will go online in a few weeks. I’ll also be livestreaming with The Tattooed Historian about “The Tech Savvy Lincoln” on March 17. Check out my Media page for upcoming events.

And don’t forget to register for the Lincoln Group of DC’s February Lincoln birthday celebration featuring Frederick Douglass (brought to you by Nathan Richardson). That event will be held February 10 in downtown DC at International Square. Check here to register.

While you’re at it, register for my own presentation on Lincoln in New England for the Lincoln Group of DC. This one is Zoom Only, so you can participate from anywhere in the country (and indeed, the world)!

Much more news coming soon.

[Photo of Hildene by David J. Kent, 2023]

Lincoln in New England book cover

Coming in March 2026: Lincoln in New England: In Search of His Forgotten Tours

Also see – Lincoln: The Fire of Genius: How Abraham Lincoln’s Commitment to Science and Technology Helped Modernize America.

Join me on Goodreads, the database where I keep track of my reading. Please leave a review on Goodreads and Amazon if you like the book.

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David J. Kent is Immediate Past 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.

Memorial Day is a federal holiday set aside to remember the people who gave the ultimate sacrifice in service to our country. Whereas Armed Forces Day pays tribute to those currently in service and Veterans Day celebrates those who have served in the past, Memorial Day honors those who died in military service.

Arlington National Cemetery

Arlington National Cemetery, across the bridge from the Lincoln Memorial, was established late in the Civil War on land that had previously belonged to Robert E. Lee. It is the most famous and largest national cemetery, but it is only one of 147 official national cemeteries designated to hold the remains of our nation’s military departed. Another in the national capital region is the Annapolis National Cemetery. Illinois hosts the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery.

I recently visited the Arlington National Cemetery where I met up with an old friend of sorts. Abraham Lincoln’s eldest son Robert Todd Lincoln is buried in a large above ground tomb. He is the only one of the Lincoln family not buried in Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield, Illinois. Robert had served as a Captain under General Ulysses Grant’s command at the end of the Civil War and was present at Appomattox and met General Robert E. Lee during the surrender. Robert would later serve as Secretary of War under President James Garfield (continuing under President Chester A. Arthur after Garfield’s assassination).

In these current troubling times, it is critical that we use this Memorial Day to honor “those who here gave their lives that that nation might live.” Furthermore, as Lincoln noted in his dedication of the cemetery at Gettysburg:

It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us — that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion — that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain — that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom — and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

Fire of Genius

Coming in February 2026: Unable to Escape This Toil

Available now – 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.

You also follow my author page on Facebook.