National Endowment for the Humanities awards Lincoln Studies Center $850,000 grant

Do you hear it?

Hip, hip, hooray! Hip, hip, hooray!

What is it? It’s the sound of Lincoln scholars around the world celebrating the largest educational grant awarded this year by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to an educational institution. And, it’s going to an entity on the Illinois prairie where the legacy of Abraham Lincoln is alive and well.

Digging into Lincoln
Since the founding of the Lincoln Studies Center at Knox College in 1998, the center’s co-directors Rodney O. Davis and Douglas L. Wilson, have been working hard to make Abraham Lincoln primary source material more accessible to the masses. Yet, their collaborative work on Lincoln goes back at least a decade earlier, and their footsteps down the hallowed halls of Old Main tread back nearly four decades to the early 1960s.

Old Main at Knox College is remembered, even revered, as the place where, on Oct. 7, 1858, thousands of people gathered to hear one of the great debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas.

Davis and Wilson, both Distinguished Service Professors Emeritus at Knox, first shared their love of history and literature with Knox students in the classrom. Yet, when they retired from teaching, their work didn’t stop. Instead, they dug in even deeper.

Their first major project under the auspices of the Lincoln Studies Center was the Abraham Lincoln Papers at the Library of Congress, which includes more than 20,000 documents from Lincoln’s presidential years.

Even before that huge undertaking, the pair had sifted through the work of Lincoln’s law partner, Billy Herndon, to publish previously hard to find and nearly impossible to read documents in one volume, Herndon's Informants: Letters, Interviews, and Statements about Abraham Lincoln. This 1997 University of Illinois Press publication is invaluable to Lincoln scholars.

Each of the two have done numerous other Lincoln- related works, many of which are award-winning. If you find a Lincoln scholar who tells you their work hasn’t been touched by the Lincoln Studies Center, I’d question the depth of their research.

“We the People” project
The Lincoln Studies grant is awarded through the NEH “We the People” program. “We the People” is designed to encourage and enhance the teaching, study, and understanding of American history, culture, and democratic principles.

The grant does have one stipulation. Over the next five years, Knox must raise $2.5 million in matching funds.

According to an article on the Knox website, the funding “will establish a permanent endowment for the Lincoln Studies Center, providing long-term support of the directorship of the Center – intended as a position of distinction for a major scholar in Lincoln studies – and enabling program enhancements, including the addition of a new staff position and the dissemination of primary sources pertaining to Lincoln and Lincoln scholarship to scholars, students and the general public.”

Board includes leading Lincoln experts
The Lincoln Studies Center’s Board of Advisors is comprised of eight accomplished Lincoln scholars, who each serve four-year terms. If you study Lincoln at all, you’ll recognize many familiar names – people who’ve contributed much to the studies of our 16th president and continue to help keep the legacy alive - both on today's board and earlier ones as well.

The current board includes:

• Michael Burlingame
• William C. Harris
• James M. McPherson
• Edna Greene Medford
• Matthew Pinsker
• Gerald J. Prokopowicz
• John R. Sellers
• Ronald C. White, Jr.

Past board members include:

• Gabor Boritt
• Collum Davis
• Jennifer Fleishner
• William E. Gienapp
• Allen C. Guelzo
• Harold Holzer
• Robert W. Johannsen
• William Lee Miller
• Lucas E. Morel
• Philip S. Paludan
• Mark E. Neely, Jr.
• Thomas F. Schwartz
• John Y. Simon
• Kenneth J. Winkle

What you can do
If this is good news to you and if you’ve reaped the benefit of the Lincoln Studies Center’s work in doing your own research, you may want to say “thanks” with your own financial gift. Though $2.5 million is a huge number and it will take some large gifts to make it happen, every little bit helps – not only to match the grant, but to help Lincoln scholars for generations to come.

Even though my work on Lincoln is just beginning, I already see the value of the Lincoln Studies Center and the work they do there. I dropped my check in the mail yesterday. Won’t you join me in helping to meet the match?

The college plans a national fundraising effort, but if you’re like me and you want to say congratulations with your own gift now, here’s a link to the Knox Office of Advancement webpage, where you can find contact information. Just be sure you include a note to indicate you want your funds to go to the Lincoln Studies Center NEH match.

And, you can do two more things:

• Next time you see Rodney Davis or Doug Wilson on the Lincoln circuit, say “Congratulations – and thanks for all you do!”
• Drop a note to the NEH to thank them for their investment in this worthwhile cause and their bicentennial birthday gift to Lincoln.

One inspiration reflects on another

It never ceases to amaze me how our paths in life sometimes intersect with just the right people to help us uncover our true passions and propel us toward our dreams.

Island holds hidden treasure
I found one of these people on a late afternoon in the early 1990s in a classroom on Arsenal Island in the middle of the Mississippi River. John E. Hallwas, a Western Illinois University professor, regional historian and prolific author, was teaching a course on the literature of Illinois. I knew by the end of that first class period that this course and the instructor were going to leave indelible marks and help forge a new path in my life.

I’d always had an interest in regional history and I truly can’t remember a time when I wasn’t mesmerized by the life and legacy of Abraham Lincoln. Hallwas’s class was going to provide the backdrop I needed to better understand the state which I call home and, as the semester evolved, was to expose me to the literary eloquence of the sixteenth president and the work of authors who wrote of him.

The course and the professor’s encouragement were to lead me down a winding path which continued out of the classroom, through writers’ workshops, onto the pages of Illinois newspapers, into the mediums of corporate communications and out into the world of Lincoln as an enthusiast, lifelong learner and blogger.

Hallwas is now retired from the classroom, but he’s digging deeper than ever into the people and forces that helped to create the Prairie State we know now. When he’s not holed up in some archive or working at home on one of his latest books, you’ll find him traveling from one end of the state to the other, giving talks about Illinois history or his books. From time to time, he steps back to one of his earlier side jobs, providing thought-provoking columns for newspapers in the region.

Hallwas on Lincoln
In that last role, Hallwas recently wrote a series of four articles beginning with Obama’s inauguration and ending on Lincoln’s birthday. The articles cover how Lincoln’s shadow is felt in Illinois and the nation today, the importance of his legacy as a writer, his spiritual journey and why studying Lincoln continues to have value.

I found his columns in the online Lake County Journals:

• Hallwas: Obama’s inauguration and the shadow of Lincoln
• Hallwas: Lincoln as a writer
• Hallwas: Lincoln’s spiritual journey
• Hallwas: The quest to understand Lincoln

I’ve taken enough of Hallwas’s courses and read enough of his work to know some of the common themes he would cover in these articles, yet even after more than a decade and a half of exposure to his work, I always take away a new perspective and a greater appreciate for the subject at hand, thanks to his insightful coverage and well-developed narrative.

Hallwas was a big proponent of his students reading their work aloud, so I wasn’t surprised to see him share how it helped mold Lincoln the writer:

Through exposure to such noted books, frequent reading aloud, much effort at writing, and eventual practice at speaking, he gradually developed a feeling for the rhythms of language and a talent for precise word choice. He even wrote a few poems.

One of the things I’ve always liked about reading Hallwas is that he can get his point across and show his authority on a subject without resorting to a bunch of fancy-scmanchy big words and convoluted intellectual discourse. He shared how Lincoln touched his listeners with this same skill:

His years of study and work as a lawyer, starting in 1837, also helped to make him a very capable writer and speaker. In court, he repeatedly used reason (for which he had enormous regard) and plain language (which anyone could understand). His spoken and written comments were never artificially literary but always direct and forceful.

Finding more inspiration
Hallwas’s final article, on why the study of Lincoln is still important, talks about the specific value of several new works or works of recent years. Not surprisingly, some of the authors and works who have captured my attention, inspired me and earned my devotion also got good marks in my mentor’s grade book.

I’m currently reading Daniel Mark Epstein’s The Lincolns: Portrait of a Marriage. Hallwas wrote that Epstein’s book, “…showing how time and adversity can change people, would be a more fascinating read for most book clubs than Doris Kearns Goodwin’s fine book on Lincoln’s cabinet.”

Epstein drew me in and held me tight in the opening pages. I’ve had to set the book aside for a while due to the bicentennial events and other obligations, but you’ll hear why I agree when I’m done reading it. What Hallwas didn’t know when he wrote this is that Epstein is also an engaging speaker and quite personable. I got to hear him and meet him in Springfield. Epstein truly does seem to appreciate his readers as much as they appreciate his work.

As I began my studies of Lincoln, there were others who inspired me – through lectures, answers to my questions or taking time out of their busy schedules to visit with me. Hallwas, too, found value in the work of the following Lincoln scholars who have touched my life.

David Herbert Donald was one of the three-generation panel who gave me advice when the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum opened in 2005. Douglas Wilson of Knox College, in my hometown of Galesburg, has been there for me whenever I’ve needed the answer to a Lincoln question. Though I didn’t get a chance to meet him, Eric Foner’s speech at the Lincoln Bicentennial celebration in Springfield provided a great springboard for my bicentennial week activities. And, when I wanted to learn more about his attraction to Lincoln, Richard Cawardine, the British Lincoln scholar, spent equal time asking me about my own Lincoln interests and providing encouragement.

The life and legacy of Lincoln are an inspiration – to scholars like these, to those who've followed in Lincoln's professions, to politicians like our new President, Barack Obama,and to youngsters of the last couple centuries. Yet, after Hallwas wrote of American’s fascination with Lincoln, he closed his series with the same question I’ve long had.

A more important question for us all, I think, is why some Americans can go through their lives unfascinated by Lincoln, unwilling to read about him, and thus uninfluenced by our most complex and astounding public figure.

Who inspires you?
If you’re reading this blog, you’ve likely been inspired in life by the life and legacy of Abraham Lincoln. If you’re really lucky, you’ve also been inspired and mentored by someone like John Hallwas. In that case, you’ve been truly blessed.

My Hero essay/artwork contest deadline: March 1
Do you have a hero in your life who represents Abraham Lincoln’s heroic qualities? If so, don’t miss out on the chance to share the story and win a trip to the Land of Lincoln. The deadline for My hero essay contest is March 1, 2009. Not a writer? That doesn’t matter. You can also enter with a work of art. See the website for further details.

Mo’ on Poe

I picked up a book off my nightstand this evening, opened it and found that in researching Edgar Allen Poe for yesterday's article, I’d missed another reference to the writer - one in a Lincoln Prize winning book from a leading Lincoln scholar.

Douglas L. Wilson, of the Lincoln Studies Center at Knox College in my longtime hometown of Galesburg (Ill.), writes of Poe in his book, Lincoln’s Sword: The Presidency and The Power of Words. This Lincoln expert has long been one of my most reliable and helpful "go to" sources for all things Lincoln. I'd consulted one of his books, which didn't have a reference to Poe, but I totally missed this volume. I apologize for the oversight, Dr. Wilson.

Wilson on Poe
As Wilson notes, Lincoln was a prolific writer of newspaper articles, many of them anonymous. In one such article, Wilson writes, Lincoln’s “subject was a strange sequence of events involving the mysterious disappearance of a visitor to Springfield named Fisher.”

Wilson writes that Lincoln’s fascination with the case was:

… firmly centered on the nature of its intellectual challenge, its apparent defiance of rational solution. In this respect, [the article] bears a recognizable resemblance to something one might have read at the time in Edgar Allan Poe, Lincoln’s exact contemporary, and according to one report, his favorite American writer. In fact, Poe’s typically wording and stilted mode of expression may be in part responsible for similar qualities in Lincoln’s essay.

The work Wilson cited as claiming Poe was Lincoln’s favorite writer was an 1860 publication, "The Life of Abraham Lincoln: With Excerpts from His Speeches,” by J.Q. Howard. It seems that many of today’s Lincoln scholars believe now that Walt Whitman was Lincoln’s favorite author of his time.

Wilson’s point is well taken, however, that the influence of Poe’s work can be seen in this particular piece, one that Wilson believes may have been “evidence of a cautious literary debut … protected by a shield of anonymity in the case of failure or indifference.”

The lo’ down on Poe
One thing is certain. Poe’s life, though cut short even sooner than Lincoln’s, ran parallel to the president’s. Lincoln was a prolific reader. As we learned in one of the sources cited in my earlier article on Poe, Lincoln likely owned Poe’s work and is said to have read it. Poe’s work is powerful – and memorable. It can’t help but have left its mark on Lincoln, so mention of Poe in conjunction with the Lincoln Bicentennial is fitting and proper.

Excerpts from:

Wilson, Douglas L., Lincoln’s Sword: The Presidency and the Power of Words, Vintage Books, New York, 2007.

A somber look at Lincoln's time

Recently, I was at a nearby library searching through the audio book section, hoping to find Doris Kearns Goodwin’s Team of Rivals. Instead, I found an audio book which gave me a behind-the-scenes look at the Civil War I would have never thought possible. The Slaves’ War: The Civil War in the Words of Former Slaves by Andrew Ward is a sobering first-hand account through the eyes of hundreds of former slaves.

I normally have a rule: My 30-minute commute to and from work is a transition time and I try to listen to things which will make me smile – Hippie Radio or fun country songs like “Chicken Fried” by the Zak Brown Band.

As I listened to narrator Richard Allen read the accounts from Ward’s book, I did anything but smile.

From the mouths of babes
The book includes the first-hand accounts of scores of former slaves, many who were just children during the Civil War and at the time of emancipation. They paint a vivid picture of the horrors of war, the injustice of servitude and the strength of a people who, by circumstances of their skin color, time in history and environs, were subjected to atrocities the like of which I can’t begin to imagine.

As I listened to the 11 audio tapes (14 hours in all), I was moved by the variety of memories the interviewees had and the color with which Allen relayed them. From stories of plantation life and battlefield scenes to memories of seeing President Lincoln at Richmond in 1865 just before the assassination, this resource sheds new light on the most troubling time in our nation’s history.

Slaves’ War draws upon 1930 Works Progress Administration interviews with those who were just children during the war, as well as other oral history. The end result is a resource which will surely hold a prominent place in the libraries of many Lincoln and Civil War scholars. It’s on my list of must haves.

Hearing is believing
I normally don’t recommend listening to a book before reading it, especially nonfiction, but in this case, I’d do it the same way all over again. Hearing Allen bring the dialect to life and “reading” in chunks seemed to be just what I needed with this book.

Now, I just have to get the printed book to keep on my reference shelf. I’ve already found several quotes I’ll want to use in my future scholarly work. Methinks Andrew Ward’s book will become as much a staple in my Lincoln bibliographies as Herndon’s Informants, edited by Douglas L. Wilson and Rodney O. Davis.

Time for kicking down the cobblestones
As I dig deeper into my Lincoln work, I’m finding my commute time is a great time to learn through audio books like this one. But for now, I think I’ll kick back and listen to some fun vibes. After all this heavy stuff, I think it’s time for some really light and funky sounds like “The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin’ Groovy)” by Simon and Garfunkel – for a few days, at least.

Reading Lincoln

I’ve had a little R & R these last couple weeks, which has given me an opportunity to catch up on some Lincoln reading I’ve wanted to do.

Two books I’d used as references for my paper on Lincoln and his mentors caught my interest and seemed worthy of further examination. My first impression of both was correct. Neither disappointed me.

It will soon be time for me to return them to the respective libraries from whence they came. Before I do, I want to tell you a little more about: Lincoln the Lawyer by Brian Dirck and Lincoln Legends: Myths, Hoaxes and Confabulations Associated with our Greatest President by Edward Steers, Jr.

I’m currently reading Lincoln’s Sword: The Presidency and the Power of Words by Douglas L. Wilson. Watch for more about that in a future post.

Lincoln the Lawyer
Until I began my Heartland college course on Lincoln, I had no idea how long Lincoln’s law career was (25 years) or how many cases he handled (5,000). In my class, I had the privilege of hearing Bloomington, Illinois attorney, Guy Fraker, who likely knows more about Lincoln’s time on the Eighth Judicial Circuit than anyone. Guy and my instructor, Dr. Scott Rager, both helped to create a hunger to learn more about Lincoln’s legal career, especially since it was right here in Central Illinois.

Brian Dirck’s Lincoln the Lawyer fed that hunger. Dirck, an Anderson University professor, takes his readers from the shock a Sangamon County farmer expressed when he learned Lincoln was studying law to Lincoln’s final days as an attorney in his law office across the street from the Old State Capitol in Springfield.

That journey took Lincoln through three partnerships – with John Todd Stuart, Stephen T. Logan and William Herndon – through courts in Springfield and the Eighth Judicial Circuit and in front of the Illinois and United States Supreme Courts. By the time Lincoln left for Washington, this self-taught lawyer was one of the most respected in the state. His cases ranged from property disputes and divorces to murders and large railroad cases. Fees he received ranged from $10 or less to the $5,000 fee he received representing the Illinois Central Railroad in their dispute with McLean County over taxes assessed the railroad.

Dirck is an academic and his book meets all the criteria of a scholarly volume – well researched, indexed, well cited – yet at no time as a reader do you feel as if you’re wading through an academic work that’s way over your head. Dirck’s book is a comfortable, entertaining read. He’s a gifted writer and a scrupulous scholar.

In my book, Dirck’s is a must read for anyone who really wants to understand those 25 years and the longest career in Lincoln’s life.

And if you can't wait to get the book to read Dirck's writing, in the meantime, you can get doses of Dirck through his blog, A. Lincoln Blog. It, too, is one of my must reads.

Lincoln Legends
As I worked on my recent paper, I realized what a large part legend played in the Lincoln story. It was often difficult to discern what was real and what wasn’t – who I could believe and who I couldn’t. People have been collecting stories about Lincoln and writing about him since shortly after his death – and, through his dying, the stories became glorified. The windows through which many of those people saw him were foggy indeed.

Although not a university-affiliated academic like many Lincoln scholars, Edward Steers, Jr., author of Lincoln Legends: Myths, Hoaxes, and Confabulations Associated with Our Greatest President, writes with all the authority of the best of them. Steers explores 14 of the most powerful Lincoln legends. He provides readers with the truth as he finds it – and, believe me, he digs until he’s left few stones unturned. If you’re curious about anything from who Lincoln’s father was to whether he loved Ann Rutledge or if he was gay, you can read about it in Steers’ book, and come away with a certainty that he’s done his homework and given you the right answer.

Lincoln Legends is also a comfortable read. I read both his and Dirck’s in front of the fireplace over a long weekend – a cold, rainy one with few interruptions. I’d recommend both of them to anyone wanting to learn more about our sixteenth president. What better way can you think of to celebrate the bicentennial of Lincoln's birth than by learning more about him?

As I read and learn about other Lincoln books, I’ll tell you a little about them. I hope you find some value in my little musings. Please use the Reactions check boxes below to let me know what you think about this article.

© Copyright 2008 Ann Tracy Mueller. All rights reserved.

October hunt for Lincoln-Graham

I think I saw the movie called "The Hunt for Red October" once, but it's not my kind of flick. I'm on my own hunt this October.

Hunt due to groundwork by Judge Willams
I'm working on a paper for the Abraham Lincoln class I'm taking at Heartland College . My theme is Abraham Lincoln and his mentors, and one of those I want to include is Mentor Graham, the teacher at New Salem. Thanks to the great article, "Lincolniana," which Judge Frank J. Williams does every year about Lincoln scholarship, I learned of a paper on the Lincoln/Graham relationship. I've been trying in vain to locate it.

Judge Williams is a member of the United States Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission and the Chairman of The Lincoln Forum. He's passionate about Lincoln and his work is invaluable. I got to hear him speak in 2005 when the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum (ALPLM) opened, so I can attest firsthand for his enthusiasm.

Enough about the Judge. I'll share more on his work another time. Back to the Lincoln/Graham paper.

Hunting for Basil Moore treasures
Basil Moore delivered a paper titled, "Abraham Lincoln and His Mentor Graham." at an April 11, 1992 conference "Remembering Lincoln," at Augustana College in Rock Island. The very helpful archivist, Jamie Nelson, at Augustana determined they don't have it. She connected me with Dean Hammer, who was the chair sponsoring the conference. Unfortunately, he didn't know where a copy could be found either. I'd go to the source - Moore - but I believe he passed away a number of years ago.

I'm checking with the ALPLM to see if they have the paper there or know if Moore's collection is in an archive somewhere. I do have a lot of material without this and a copy of Basil Moore's Lincoln coming through interlibrary loan, but I thought this might show the Graham/Lincoln relationship in some light I had not considered.

Thanks for your help in my hunt
My blog is new and just beginning to attract Lincoln buffs like me. I hope some of you are finding some value in it by learning something new from time to time about Lincoln, the scholars who tell his story or the books they've written. My foray into the world of Lincoln is teaching me so much, but I'm still new at learning where to look for all these sources. If you can help, please use the comments function on this blog post.

Happy hunting in your own Lincoln research, and be sure to watch my future postings for more on Lincoln and Graham. Douglas Wilson of the Lincoln Studies Center at Knox College provides information on the relationship which is a bit different than that of those who wrote about it earlier using the anecdotal material passed down through time. I'm looking forward to sharing what I've learned.

© Copyright 2008 Ann Tracy Mueller. All rights reserved.

Shedding light on Lincoln’s darkness

Currently I consider myself an Abraham Lincoln enthusiast, thus the blog name “Lincoln Buff 2.” I hope someday to earn the title “Lincoln scholar.” To do so will take lots of hard work, years of reading and researching, and the mentoring and respect of Lincoln scholars who have come before me.

I’ve had the blessing of hearing a number of Lincoln scholars speak, and have even had a chance to meet a few. One of my hopes in this blog is that I can introduce you to some authors and scholars in the Lincoln community who inspire me - and tell you about their work.

Meet Joshua Wolf Shenk
I’ve already told you about Rodney Davis and Douglas Wilson of the Lincoln Studies Center at Knox College and Harold Holzer of the United States Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission in earlier postings. Today I’d like to introduce you to Joshua Wolf Shenk and his book, Lincoln’s Melancholy: How Depression Challenged a President and Fueled His Greatness.

Lincoln as most know him
I think it’s safe to say that most Americans know the legendary Lincoln – the young boy born in a log cabin in Kentucky, who later lived in some little village somewhere in the middle of Illinois, had little schooling, read by the light of a fireplace, ascended to the presidency, led our nation at its most difficult time and delivered a battlefield address which is probably studied in school more than any other oratorical work.

What the more astute students of Lincoln know, though, as it is covered again and again in varying degrees in his biographies, is that Lincoln had dark moments – very sad and solemn times. In his day, it was known as melancholy or melancholia. Today, we call it depression and we understand it’s a mental health issue faced by many.

A dual discipline approach to Lincoln
Joshua Wolf Shenk had the honor of serving as a Rosalynn Carter Fellow in Mental Health Journalism at the Carter Center in Atlanta. While there, he began his studies on Lincoln’s depression. Lincoln’s Melancholy is unique in the approach it takes to Lincoln’s life. Shenk takes a multi-discipline approach, combining his knowledge of and interest in mental illness with his expertise in the life of Lincoln.

As you read Shenk’s book, you’ll not only learn about Lincoln and how his depression affected his life and presidency, but you’ll also learn about mental illness, a condition which impacts one in five families in America.

I had the opportunity to hear Shenk speak this summer at two appearances in Peoria, Ill. He held us spellbound as he spoke with sincerity and depth about our 16th president and the depression which darkened his life. His book is comprehensive and educational without overwhelming the reader with medical jargon. If I had a chance, I’d see go hear Shenk yet again, and I’d recommend his book to any Lincoln buff.

© Copyright 2008 Ann Tracy Mueller. All rights reserved.

Learning with Lincoln

Forgive me for not posting for a few days. I've been busy learning with Lincoln -- and with so many others who forged the path before me.

Lincoln - the student or the teacher?
I'm currently working on my term paper for my class at Heartland College. My topic is Lincoln and his mentors. I spent this weekend doing lots of online research and reading in books about the teacher at New Salem, Mentor Graham. Though Lincoln was already an adult at New Salem, his schooling to that point had been less than a year.

Lincoln befriended the village teacher, Mentor Graham, or perhaps Graham befriended him. Either way, as Lincoln delved into his studies - of grammar, of surveying, of law - and read books on a wide range of topics, Graham was there. If the sources I'm reading are to be believed, the two also spent hours discussing many of the topics which would be important or confusing to Lincoln throughout his life - internal improvements, slavery, religion.

The primary book I read today, Mentor Graham: The Man Who Taught Lincoln, by Kunigunde Duncan and D. F. Nikols, was written in 1944, and much of it may be anecdotal, based on myth, stories told by minds that have reshaped them, and hearsay. Yet, I came away believing that there were two students here. I think Graham learned as much in many ways as his student did.

Lincoln Studies Center and Lincoln Studies.com
Those of you who have been following my blog know how much I admire, laud and appreciate the work of the Lincoln Studies Center at Knox College. Drs. Rodney Davis, Douglas Wilson and their colleagues do amazing research there and have made invaluable contributions to the study of Lincoln. One work alone, Herndon's Informants, is perhaps one of the most valuable tools for any Lincoln scholar's bookshelf. I could devote several posts to their work and likely will.

I found another valuable research tool this weekend, though. There is an ambitious young PhD candidate at Southern Illinois University, Samuel P. Wheeler. Wheeler has created a website titled Lincoln Studies: Abraham Lincoln and the American Civil War, which is out of this world in getting students of Lincoln to the sources they need. His Research Links section takes you to nearly any online source possible without the access provided by colleges and universities to their students, including thousands of newspaper articles about Lincoln. Wheeler’s site, http://www.lincolnstudies.com/, was a big help to me this weekend. I know I’ll use it over and over again.

Can’t go wrong
Whether you’re seeking the experience Drs. Davis and Wilson have accumulated over nearly half a century, or the sources to which a budding scholar will guide you, remember two words – Lincoln Studies – and seek both as valuable contributions to your work in the world of Lincoln. I will.

Be like Lincoln - Read

If you were asked to name a characteristic of Abraham Lincoln's, what would it be? His honesty is always up there at the top, but so is his love of the written word. I can't ever remember a time when "Lincoln" wasn't synonymous with "voracious reader" in my mind.

There are more books written about Lincoln than anyone except Jesus Christ. I've provided a list of books you can read to learn more about our sixteenth president. The list now links directly to a source where you can order each one.

U of I Press keeps history alive
A number of books about Lincoln are published by the University of Illinois Press, a publishing house with a passion much like my own - keeping regional history alive. Therefore, whenever possible I'll link directly to the U of I Press website. For books published elsewhere, I'll normally take you to a major bookseller's website.

My blog booklist
You won't find the same books listed each time you visit my blog. The list is constantly evolving. I plan to feature books by authors or on subjects which relate most closely to my recent posts.

The book I'm currently reading will always be at the top. For now, that's David Herbert Donald's Lincoln. We're using it as the text in the Lincoln course I'm taking at Heartland College in Bloomington, Ill. Get used to seeing that one listed through early December.

Now featuring Davis and Wilson
For the next few days, the list will also feature books by Rodney O. Davis and Douglas L. Wilson of the Lincoln Studies Center at Knox College in Galesburg, Ill. Their names and faces have been familiar to me for almost as long as Lincoln's. Drs. Davis and Wilson are my hometown heroes, as much as Ronald Reagan, Carl Sandburg, Mother Bickerdyke or Superman himself (George Reeves). And they stepped up the hero ladder even more this past weekend when they did a magnificent job hosting the Twenty-Third Annual Lincoln Colloquium. Read my Oct. 11 post to learn more about this great event.

As I transition to a hyperlinked book list, you'll find two lists for a while. May you find something listed here you've not yet read, and in reading, may you discover another morsel or two of Lincoln knowledge you haven't yet discovered. Happy reading!

© Copyright 2008 Ann Tracy Mueller. All rights reserved.