Abraham Lincoln

Next year is the bicentennial of Abe's birth. There will be celebrations throughout the land, especially in Springfield, IL where there is a new state-of-the-art Lincoln museum. The bicentennial provides an opportunity to re-examine what it means to be an American in the 21st century. Now is a good time to start planning on how you can best celebrate. What a wonderful opportunity for a class of any age to study Lincoln and his Times. lincolnbicentennial.gov will give you ideas. One challenge that I think is interesting: What five conveniences of today, that were not available in the mid 1800s, would you miss the most if you were living in that period? Just thinking about this makes you appreciate our many advantages of today. I plan to make a study of Lincoln, and Jan and I will be visiting in Springfield later this year.
The picture shown here is the last picture taken of Lincoln, four days before his assassination. Four years of civil war had a dramatic effect on his facial features, but still there is a sense of calm and peace on his face, as if he knows that he has run a good race and completed his task.

LSmith6100@kc.rr.com