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.