Springfield – David J. Kent

Like all Presidents, Abraham Lincoln seemed to age decades during his four years in office. On my recent trip to Springfield, Illinois I got to see this close up. As you might expect, there are several statues of Lincoln around town, all of which have been photographed millions of times by the steady stream of tourists into this relatively small city.

I did the same, of course. But I also have a penchant for close ups. It was here that the aging process was brought home to me. Let’s start at the Lincoln-Herndon Law Offices, standing on the corner across the street from the Old State Capitol. Here we find a relatively younger Lincoln the lawyer and statesman with his family, his wife Mary straightening his tie as he prepares to give his 1854 anti-slavery speech. This is a close up:

Young Lincoln

A couple of blocks north you’ll find Union Square Park and, yes, more Lincoln statues. I liked the one of him standing strong against an unseen wind as he gives his first inaugural address. In this close up the flag atop the tower of Union Station highlights a now bearded Lincoln.

Older Lincoln

Now imagine how much older he looked after four years of war.

The statue sits across the street from the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum. I spent two days inside the library doing research with the Papers of Abraham Lincoln project, skipping across the street only to see a special exhibit “Unfinished Work” temporarily showing in the museum. I’ll be coming back out to Springfield in September for a full-scale tour of Lincoln-related sites including New Salem, the Lincoln house, and tomb. Even though I’ve just returned, I can’t wait to go back.

David J. Kent has been a scientist for thirty-five years, is an avid science traveler, and an independent Abraham Lincoln historian. He is the author of Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity (now in its 5th printing) and two e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate. His book on Thomas Edison is due in Barnes and Noble stores in July 2016.

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I’ll be in Springfield this month doing research for my new Lincoln book. The staff will show me how to use the database and how to best use the documents found. As Daniel Stowell, the Papers Project Director put it to me:

Much depends on what you are looking for and what you find. Understand that all of our documents to March 1861 are transcribed and word searchable, but only perhaps one third of the presidential documents have been transcribed. That’s still some 27,000 documents, so it’s a lot of material. Most, but not all, of the untranscribed materials will have images attached.

I have a lot of work ahead, but it’s much easier now that the Papers Project has begun organizing, scanning, and transcribing the documents collected from all over the country and the world.

The impetus for my impending visit was a talk given by Abraham Lincoln himself (in the guise of George Buss) at the Lincoln Group of DC this past December. Joining him was his Chief of Staff, played by former Abraham Lincoln Association President Bob Lenz. It was Lenz who passed my name on to Stowell, after which Stowell invited me out to Springfield. He even sent me two publications, One Lincoln’s Side and On Lincoln’s Mind.

Much is going on with the Papers Project these days. Professional historians and editors like Dan Stowell and Stacy Pratt McDermott (whom I met at the recent Lincoln symposium in Ford’s Theatre) are diligently at work collecting and organizing the papers. Unfortunately, politics has intruded, funding has been severely curtailed, and the project is in danger of not being able to complete its mission. A New York Times editorial describes some of the issues and the travesty of the project being used as a political punching bag.

I’m doing my part by being among the many historians who are showing how valuable the project is by taking advantage of the database.

Here’s how you can help.

[Note that the Papers project has been severely disabled by even more recent budget cuts and personnel removals.]

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