A much-needed blogger break

To all my faithful visitors who come back to this blog day after day, I offer an apology. I haven't been very good about blogging the past few days.

I love blogging. I love the research. I love the writing. I love it all. I'd blog every day for hours if it were practical, but sometimes it just isn't. Other things need to take priority. This has been one of those times. Our family was blessed last week with a visit from our California daughter. It was a great time for all of us to spend time together as a family.

I've also had to spend some time catching up on things I couldn't get to while I was covering the bicentennial - coursework for a continuing education class, those dreaded income taxes and household duties. Some days there just aren't enough hours in a day.

I'll be blogging again a little more regularly soon, so please keep coming back to visit.

In the meantime, please visit the blog for the Lincoln Seminar at Galesburg High School. This is a great group of motivated students led by the cream of the crop in past and present American Studies teachers at GHS. They've done a lot of neat things this year, and they've got a lot more on the horizon. Check out what they've been doing. It's all pretty cool.

Sowing the seeds of Lincoln scholarship

It may surprise some of you to know that my excitement about the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial isn’t something which sprouted up overnight. Like anything worthwhile, it took seed, was nurtured and is now coming into its own.

My growth with Lincoln
I truly have been interested in Lincoln for as long as I can remember – very early childhood. Part of that comes from growing up in Illinois, some of it comes from the pride of this great state and its famous son instilled by my parents and grandparents, some also grew in the classroom, and the rest of it comes from inheriting a trait with roots stronger than an old milkweed plant on an Illinois prairie – an insatiable curiosity.

What many of you don’t know is that I earned my college degree much later than most – just a few days before my forty-first birthday. One of the courses I took was a Literature of Illinois class offered through Western Illinois University’s Board of Governors/ BA program (now Board of Trustees/BA). I’d been away from school a long time, and from my studies of Lincoln even longer, but I knew during the first evening of that class that I’d found my true passion. The history and literature of Illinois are so rich, and the legacy of Lincoln even richer. This was something that had a grip on me that would not let go. And – I wasn’t going to let it.

A few years later, through the encouragement of my professor from that class, I attended a writers’ workshop at the Carl Sandburg Days Festival in Galesburg, Ill. I then began writing freelance book reviews on books by Illinois authors or about Illinois subjects, including Lincoln, for The State Journal-Register of Springfield, Ill.

Then in 2002, the U.S. Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission, co-chaired by U.S. Senator Richard Durbin, U.S. Representative Ray LaHood and Lincoln scholar Harold Holzer, put out a press release announcing its new Web site. It was then that I began to formulate what I called my seven-year plan. I’d hoped that by Lincoln’s 200th birthday on Feb. 12, 2009 I could be making a significant contribution to keeping the legacy of Lincoln alive.

As often happens in life, my plans went awry, and I’m not making a huge contribution to the Lincoln world. I did, however, get to attend all the events associated with the April 2005 opening of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, met some brilliant Lincoln scholars and learned a lot. Then this fall I had an opportunity of a lifetime – to take a course on Abraham Lincoln at Heartland, the local community college. Through the course and a number of other Lincoln-related events here in the center of the Land of Lincoln, I’m finally pursuing my interests.

This blog is one way I hope to plant that Lincoln passion in others. Significant contribution? Maybe not. But a little seed - maybe…

Heartland Community College course
The Heartland course, “The Life and Times of Abraham Lincoln,” will also be offered in the Spring of 2009, so if you’re from Central Illinois, you may want to check it out.

And let me tell you about a couple other places where students are learning about Lincoln.

Galesburg High School Lincoln Seminar
Galesburg has a rich Lincoln tradition, which is part of the reason I was always so passionate about the sixteenth president. Unfortunately, in the past much of the Galesburg community didn’t latch onto Lincoln with the same enthusiasm that held a grasp on Carl Sandburg and me.

This year, though, Galesburg High School is offering an interdisciplinary course, Lincoln Seminar. Sixteen young people have already been exposed to many wonderfully rich Lincoln-related experiences, which they’re chronicling on their own blog. I wonder if those young people really understand the magnitude of what this experience can mean to them. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if one of those students – or better yet all of them – were the next generation of Lincoln scholars?

Loyola University courses
Through a comments post to another Lincoln blog, I recently learned of an exciting Lincoln class at Loyola University, “Lincoln and Citizen Journalism,” taught by John Slania. See some of the outstanding work of this group on their class Web site.

According to information on the Loyola Web site and in the Loyola online publication, this is just one of several Lincoln-related courses to be offered at Loyola this year. And, to top it off, they’ll also be hosting Lincoln scholar Doris Kearns Goodwin for a lecture on Feb. 11, 2009.

Other Lincoln courses?
Are there other Lincoln courses you’d like people to know about? If so, please let me know. I’ll try to let readers know about them here on Lincoln Buff 2.

© Copyright 2008 Ann Tracy Mueller. All rights reserved.

Road tripping with Lincoln in Illinois

Ever read a blog or a social networking site, listened to a voice mail or received an email out of office message where the person says, "I'm on the road this week"? I always thought that sounded so cool!

I've been "on the road" with Abraham Lincoln lately and it's been quite an experience. Okay, not really with him, but certainly pursuing his legacy.

Events aplenty
Thanks to the upcoming bicentennial of Lincoln's birth, central Illinois has been a great place to be a Lincoln buff - especially these last few weeks. A person would have to be nearly super-human to make it to all the events, but I've done my best to try to achieve that stature - four events in six days!

Immersed in Lincoln
As a student in the class which Heartland College is offering to commemorate the Bicentennial, History 296: The Life and Times of Abraham Lincoln, taught by Dr. Scott Rager, I spend one evening each week immersed in Lincoln in the classroom and countless other hours reading my lesson and learning as much as I can outside of class. Yes, it has become somewhat of an obession!

Buss-Connors as Lincoln-Douglas
The Lincoln-Douglas Debate Reunion Tour 2008 has had George Buss as Lincoln and Tim Connors as Stephen A. Douglas traveling throughout the state. If you get a chance sometime, please go see them. You'll be glad you did.

I saw Buss and Connors at the historic Normal Theatre on Sept. 24 and at Galesburg on Oct. 4 for the anniversary celebration of the Galesburg debate. They've hit all the other 1858 debate sites this fall, as well. On Oct. 16, Buss will portray Lincoln for a modern day press conference at the Pettengill-Morron House in Peoria. I hope to make it to that event, too.

Scholars present
Last Saturday's colloquium at Knox was fantastic (see my Oct. 11 blog post) and tonight I was at the University of Illinois in Springfield for the Lincoln Legacy Lecture series with Drs. Silvana Siddali and Jennifer Weber presenting. This isn't the first time I've heard these two brilliant Lincoln scholars present, and I intend not to let it be the last. The event was moderated by Order of Lincoln honoree Thomas Schwartz, Illinois Historian, whose work with the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, Lincoln Bicentennial Commission and many other Lincoln-related organizations is inspirational. Watch my future posts for information on these Lincoln experts, areas of their Lincoln scholarship and links to their books.

I'll also try to tell you a little more about all of the Order of Lincoln honorees I've met in the past week, their contributions to the Lincoln legacy and their publications. Watch for future posts.

My assignment
In the meantime, I'm taking some time off the road for my own scholarly work. (Wow, I always wanted to say that!) I'll be working on a paper on Abraham Lincoln and his mentors. I've had great mentors myself - in work and in academia - so I was drawn to this subject. I think the topic definitely has relevance today.

Your assignment
Okay, all readers, here's your assignment. Think of a mentor you've had who has inspired you, helped you grow and guided you to new heights. Please feel free to use the comments function to share your story. (I do review all comments before posting, so you may not see them until the following day.)

Lincoln scholars, I know we've got budding scholars reading this post, especially my young friends in the Lincoln Seminar class at Galesburg High School. Like me, they admire you and your work. Please tell them about the mentors who inpired you.

© Copyright 2008 Ann Tracy Mueller. All rights reserved.