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As I noted in today’s “Morning Shorts,” the Lincoln Presidential Museum is closing in on its 1 millionth visitor.
As of Sunday, Dec. 31, the number of visitors that have toured the Museum since April, 2005 hit 997,410.
Have you been to the museum? How would you rate it? Would you go again?
posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Jan 4, 07 @ 5:50 am
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How many Illinois teachers / state employees could have gotten a 5% raise for the $145 million the library cost?
At this rate, the Obama Museum is probably going to cost $800 million. (Exhibits showing the museumgoers the ‘Obama chilhood experience’ where he had to overcome prejudices Lincoln could only dream of, will probably be VERY expensive)
Comment by Anon Thursday, Jan 4, 07 @ 6:30 am
I’ve been there 4 times since it opened. It is beautiful and a boon to downtown Springfield as well as the rest of the state. State of the art exhibits… I give it a 9+.
Comment by Anon Thursday, Jan 4, 07 @ 7:34 am
Been five times and enjoy it each time. It is well worth the price of admission and recommend it to everyone. Plan to spend two or three hours there as there is a lot to see. The Illinois Historic Preservation Agency has done a magnificent job with the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum. Many, many thanks to the volunteers who make the visit special. Recommend you go Wednesday evening as it is usually a slow time them.
Comment by Justice Thursday, Jan 4, 07 @ 8:05 am
Been there, done that. The Lincoln Museum is excellent with enough effects to keep it interesting for the casual visitor and enough facts to make it worthwhile for the history buff. Would definitely go again.
Comment by Fan of the Game Thursday, Jan 4, 07 @ 8:50 am
Been there several times and enjoyed it. Seems like a good PR destination to bring money and people to Springfield. Did like how the kitchen items dinged at me when I touched several of them a little too hard. Really liked the video presentation. Will go again with family or special events.
Comment by zatoichi Thursday, Jan 4, 07 @ 8:51 am
I like the museum in general but was very disappointed at the sometimes deliberate distortions of history and major ommisions. Lincoln the lawyer is shown as a daydreaming, ineffective parent instead of being depicted for what he was, which was the foremost railroads attorney and lobbiest in the West. It was his interest in the railroad that got him into politics in the first place, and his close ties to powerful railroad interests (Not his ties to abolitionists) that got him nominated in 1860. Had it not been for the Civil War, Lincoln would most certainly be remembered today as the President who tied the country together by rail. I also winced at the depiction of Lincoln’s coffin lying in state with a closed lid. It was actually an open coffin, but the museum staff decided to leave it closed so as to not upset the kiddies. Finally, I hate the fact that Boothe’s cry of “Sic sempre tyrannus!” was omitted from the assination display. The museum staff presumed that the average tourist was too poorly educated to understand the significance of those words, despite the fact that in 1865 any American with even a grammar school education would have clearly understood that this was Boothe’s public defense (Justifiable tyrannicide, in the Classical sense). In short, the place is very entertaining, and occasionally enlightening, but could have been far, far more educational and a much finer tribute to Lincoln the Man rather than Lincoln the Myth.
Comment by Jim Leinicke Thursday, Jan 4, 07 @ 9:20 am
At best, only a complement to the sites that already existed here. A good tourist draw that brings $$$$$$ to Spfld. One-dimensional, though, and longevity is questionable. The days of 12 million dollar budgets for the place will end someday.
Comment by anon2 Thursday, Jan 4, 07 @ 9:39 am
I visited the museum before the holidays. Fascinating! Truly a world class museum. Illinois should be very proud.
I will visit again when I have more time to enjoy all it has to offer. A great show piece for visitors.
Comment by Larry Mullholland Thursday, Jan 4, 07 @ 9:40 am
I have been to the museum 5 times and have recommended it to countless people. I think that it does a great job of presenting its subject in a way that is accessible to people of all ages. Plus the added benefit of having an additional draw to bring people to our state capitol cannot be overlooked.
Comment by Rep. John Fritchey Thursday, Jan 4, 07 @ 10:30 am
A must see. I have been three times. For balance, consider building a museum for political corruption. I suggest a location in Cook county with a branch in Springfield far removed from the Lincoln sites. The Corruption Center would be ever expanding with tremendous growth potential.
Comment by Ali Bin Haddin Thursday, Jan 4, 07 @ 11:50 am
I went with my two young children (then an 18-month-old and a newborn), and I think I really would have enjoyed the exhibits if I had been there on my own. The children’s play area is GREAT, but I can’t say the same for the kid-friendliness of the rest of the museum. The walkways are so narrow that it’s hard to navigate them with a stroller, and the guards were extremely unhelpful about helping us through security. And the changing table in the women’s restroom is located right behind the door, so changing a baby means blocking everyone else from entering the bathroom. I, too, wonder if the money could have been better used. And it appears quite likely that there was an agenda to the museum’s portrayal of Lincoln. But at least it’s getting people interested in history who otherwise might not think too much about it.
- KPE
Comment by KPE Thursday, Jan 4, 07 @ 11:58 am
I’ve been there once and am looking forward to going back. I’d give an 8 or 9 on a 10 scale.
Comment by Couincilman Sinnock Online Thursday, Jan 4, 07 @ 12:26 pm
Wow, mostly positive comments so far. That’s a record. I am especially dismayed by the obvious IFT/IEA supporter. I have been there twice and found it great.
Comment by Wile Coyote Thursday, Jan 4, 07 @ 1:22 pm
I give it two big thumbs down. It was very shallow and had too many useless special effects.
I found the “Ghost in the museum” display pointless.
The snoring and movement of a sleeping person in the log cabin added nothing, was a distraction, and will be costly to maintain.
The moving map of the battlelines of the Civil War was interesting but moved too fast to really appreciate what was happening.
The closed casket was not only inaccurate, it distorts the fact that the display of Linclon’s embalmed body led Americans to embalm on a regular basis.
It also bothered me that so much money and space was spent on very weak reproductions of places that exist a short distance from the library, namely the old state capitol and new salem log cabin. I also did not see good tie-ins to the other local historic sites related to Lincoln and the civil war to encourage longer stays in Springfield.
Finally, the building is ugly. It doesn’t tie in to the architecture of Lincoln’s time or around the site. The North and East side are ugly blank walls with trash dumpsters out in the open on the east. How hard would it have been to engrave a few famous sayings or speeches on these walls?
I went with my family and they were all equally underwhelmed by the museum.
Comment by Objective Dem Thursday, Jan 4, 07 @ 2:39 pm
First Class all the way from the beginning of all exhibits to ending in the gift shop, which has lots of inexpensive trinkets for school kids. I found the moving map of battlelines of the Civil War absolutely fascinating. It does move fast but I went in twice on each visit and really appreciate it showing how the North divided the South. Pay close attention and you can see when part of Virgina became West Virginia. The death tally is astonishing.
This is definitely a great asset for Springfield. We have been twice and will go again soon hopefully as a family when Major Little Little E #1 comes home from Iraq.
I think we could pick it to pieces; however, with the old Union Station now nearing completion, this gives families even more reason to come to Springfield, Illinois for a vacation. Almost everything here is free except the ALP Museum and averaging out the expenses, this city is still a vacation bargain.
Comment by Little Egypt Thursday, Jan 4, 07 @ 3:09 pm
Wonderful place. I revisit it with out of town friends often. It’s especially good for young children who see that history doesn’t have to be boring.
Comment by Don Moss Thursday, Jan 4, 07 @ 3:12 pm
I’ve visited nearly Presidential Museum in the United States. I believe that the Lincoln Museum ranks as one of the best. When you can build a center that keeps the interest of 8 - 80 year olds, you’ve done a great job.
Other great museums are the Eisenhower Museum in Abilene, KS and the Gerald Ford Museum in Michigan. Both do an excellent job of capturing the feel of those times.
Springfield can be very, very proud of their excellent facility.
Comment by Downstate Republican Thursday, Jan 4, 07 @ 3:35 pm
I’ve been several times and like the Museum. I do wish they had incorporated more opportunities to learn more. In the Clinton Library & Museum for example, they include computers where you can learn more about Clinton-era programs and government agencies. Why couldn’t we have had something like that.
I’m most bothered by the lack of any mention about Lincoln’s time in Congress. He was most known for opposing the Mexican-American War because he thought it was wrong to start a war of aggression and he introduced a series of resolutions making issue of the fact that President Polk lied to the nation to justify the war.
Bush used Lincoln’s words legacy to defend the war in Iraq when he spoke at the dedication. Would he have gotten away with that if the Museum had contained factual information about Lincoln’s most notable public act on the national stage before becoming President?
In the room where you hear the voices of Lincoln’s critics I’ve heard visitors say “they attacked him just like they attack bush.” Would people make that comparison if they knew Lincoln was very outspoken against a war of agression based on lies?
I do think the Museum has an agenda. There is no excuse for excluding those facts that represent a major part of Lincoln’s life and political career.
Comment by Sango Dem Thursday, Jan 4, 07 @ 3:36 pm
Hmmmm, Sango Dem, VERY GOOD POINT!
Comment by Little Egypt Thursday, Jan 4, 07 @ 4:22 pm
In regards to the museum excluding a major part of Lincoln’s life, I don’t remember anything at the museum regarding Lincoln sharing a bed with Joshua Speed for four years. How about that diaroma for shocking the little school kids.
Comment by Objective Dem Thursday, Jan 4, 07 @ 4:47 pm
The whole arrangement is very “Disney”, with very little actual history and very few artifacts on display. Don’t museums display artifacts? Or is it supposed to be a hologram show?
Comment by Max Maxwell Thursday, Jan 4, 07 @ 6:16 pm
What, I’m not an artifact?
Comment by Gettysburg Address said Thursday, Jan 4, 07 @ 6:55 pm
I liked it, my kids liked it, I’d definitely go again.
Comment by Paul, Just This Guy, You Know? Thursday, Jan 4, 07 @ 9:37 pm
I’ve been to the museum a number of times, including twice before it opened. It is not a typical stuff-in-glass-cases museum, although there are glass cases with pretty neat stuff in them. It gives a sense of Lincoln the man in addition to Lincoln the President. History becomes an almost-real experience - and then you can walk to the home, Old State Capitol and drive over to the tomb.
I’ll go again and sit in front of the 4 minute civil war and the election commercials for a couple viewings at least. Sometime while I watch the Ghosts in the Library, I’ll figure out how it works. The two people I know that do know how it works aren’t talking.
Comment by In the Sticks Thursday, Jan 4, 07 @ 11:22 pm