Spielberg’s ‘Lincoln’ props to find a home in Springfield

Do you follow the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum on Facebook? If you don’t, you should.

Then you wouldn’t miss news like this exciting announcement: “Key sets, costumes and props” from Steven Spielberg’s movie “Lincoln” will be displayed “for many years to come” in an exhibit, “Lincoln: From History to Hollywood.”

The sets for Lincoln’s office and Mary Lincoln’s bedroom will be in the exhibit at Union Station, across 6^th Street from the museum in Springfield, Ill., beginning in early 2014.

The exhibit will also include costumes, such as Lincoln’s suit, some of Mary Lincoln’s dresses and young Tad Lincoln’s Zouave uniform, as well as props like the stethoscope used in the death scene, papers and magazines used as office props, and the gloves Daniel Day Lewis wore in his Academy Award-winning performance of Lincoln.

Union Station will serve as a museum annex, with video presentations about the movie to complement the exhibit.

Admission for children will be free, when accompanied by adults, whose admission charge is $5. A new “full experience” package offers museum visitors a savings, though. For $15, which is $3 more than museum-only admission, adults can see both the museum and its annex “Lincoln” exhibit.

Spielberg and DreamWorks Studios are loaning the items to the museum, with transportation costs covered by the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation, not tax dollars.

“It is an honor to have this exhibit at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum,” says Spielberg. “When we visited for research on the film, it was our thought that there might be an opportunity to bring such an exhibit to Springfield, and that is now a reality.”

From one Lincoln buff to another, I say, Kudos, Mr. Speilberg! Your movie resurrected the Lincoln story, eliciting a new wave of interest in the 16^th President, his life and legacy. Thank you! I can’t wait to see the exhibit.

Visit the ALPLM Facebook announcement to read the full release.