Question of the day
Friday, Jul 15, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* SJ-R…
Growing up in Kentucky, one of Alan Lowe’s first memories was visiting Abraham Lincoln’s birthplace. On Monday, Lowe took over as the new director of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield.
“The thought of being able to be the director of a library and museum dedicated to his legacy and to use that as a platform to be able to reach people, teach, inspire – it’s kind of hard to beat that,” Lowe said in an interview Monday. “When I heard about the possibility, I couldn’t resist it.” […]
Some critics of the museum have complained that the exhibits haven’t been upgraded since the facility opened more than 10 years ago.
“What I want to do is go through them with a finer eye than I’ve done so far and take a really good look at each component,” Lowe said. “Do we need an update? Do we need a change? Is the technology holding up? Is there a new technology that we could put in there? That depends on a lot of variables, chiefly funding.”
Not only will he rely on his own eye for evaluating exhibits, but Lowe said he wants to carefully review what visitors are saying about the museum, what works and what doesn’t. It doesn’t mean that Lowe necessarily believes there are problems.
* The Question: Your suggestions for Director Lowe?
- very old soil - Friday, Jul 15, 16 @ 2:15 pm:
Rent, don’t buy.
- Shanks - Friday, Jul 15, 16 @ 2:15 pm:
RUN! Get out while you can!
- Rich Miller - Friday, Jul 15, 16 @ 2:23 pm:
People, it’s a serious question.
- Newsclown - Friday, Jul 15, 16 @ 2:24 pm:
So, a serious answer. The standing exhibits are fine: they were designed to run for an indefinite period from the start. The component that is supposed to be constantly refreshed is the live presentations done in the Union Theatre and the exhibit gallery. You need to attract worthwhile presenters and lecturers for those.
One crazy yet cheap way to “update” the museum would be to piggy-back on the virtual reality overlay technology of that stupid Pokemon GO craze. It should be relatively simple to create a free museum VR app that would, for example, replace the walls around the fake White House with a 3-d model of period Washington, D.C. Or, when going thru the various “rooms” on the “journeys”, additional content and explanations could be viewed in the VR overlay of what is already there. This requires no new construction on the museum site, just a lot of modeling and programming, and it can supplement what docents do.
This could also be an inexpensive way to refresh the State Museum as well, expanding what’s in the glass cases and dioramas to put them in a 360-degree environment with a meaningful explanation track. You bring your own phone, and the gift shop offers cardboard disposable holders to create the “holo-experience”.
- Anon - Friday, Jul 15, 16 @ 2:24 pm:
Updating the exhibits is a must and watch out for daggers in your back.
- Mongo - Friday, Jul 15, 16 @ 2:29 pm:
The museum is fascinating. The hall of editorial cartoons is an amazing perspective on how cruel we can be to one another.
I candidly could do without the little house. I get it, that’s what our forefathers lived in. But it is not an attraction to me.
Congratulations, Mr. Lowe. Welcome to Illinois.
- illinoised - Friday, Jul 15, 16 @ 2:30 pm:
I love the ALPLM. I suggest a public relations campaign soliciting visitor input on needed changes and non-visitor input on why they have not taken advantage of the ALPLM.
- Handle Bar Mustache - Friday, Jul 15, 16 @ 2:31 pm:
Don’t let the hacks push you around. Listen to the Lincoln scholars. And listen to the volunteer/docents.
- Anon221 - Friday, Jul 15, 16 @ 2:32 pm:
Keep the Librarian!!! That part of the museum experience, especially for those young or otherwise who don’t know the “secret” is very well done and quite surprising at the end of the performance.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2T8aA9539s
- Juice - Friday, Jul 15, 16 @ 2:35 pm:
It’s been a few years since I’ve been there, so maybe these things are being done already. But update some of the exhibits.
Don’t be shy about seeking corporate sponsorships. Just because it is (was) a world class institution does not mean things shouldn’t be kept up to date, but don’t wait around for state funds to help pay for upgrades. Past leadership of the ALPLM has been way too timid in being innovative on how to pay for things, and has waiting for some magical appropriation that was never going to appear.
As far as I’m aware, the Meet the Press exhibit is still going strong, but Russert passed away eight years ago now. Make a couple of phone calls, and get it up to date. Nothing against Russert, but if the point of the exhibit is for a modern conversation on the events of the time, then the featured anchor should probably still be anchoring.
- LibrarianRyan - Friday, Jul 15, 16 @ 2:37 pm:
I have quite enjoyed my trip to the ALPLM but it could do with some updating. Not everything. I think there should be a special section where the exhibit changes at least yearly to draw new crowds in. Or Keep the crowds they have coming back.
- Anonymous - Friday, Jul 15, 16 @ 2:38 pm:
An exhibit on his struggles to find good generals?
An exhibit on his years in Springfield as legislator/campaigner?
Actually, I think rent don’t buy is serious advice.
- frisbee - Friday, Jul 15, 16 @ 2:39 pm:
The “election night” TV results are lame, just put up a map of which states voted how and don’t try to make it look like our current news broadcasted election nights.
On another note perhaps they can organize a trolley to go from the museum/library to the home, train depot and grave. Having an easy way to get people from one attraction to the next would be beneficial since they are probably too far for most visitors to walk to each.
- Mugwump - Friday, Jul 15, 16 @ 2:47 pm:
I always thought it was strange that there is no mention that Lincoln opposed the Mexican war because it would expand potential slave territory; no mention of the Cooper Union speech; and no mention that Booth shouted “Sic Semper Tyrannis” (the Virginia state motto) when he shot Lincoln.
I think the map of the 1860 election results should be by county, not just by state. Much more interesting.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/70/PresidentialCounty1860Colorbrewer.gif Breckinridge carried Los Angeles.
- wordslinger - Friday, Jul 15, 16 @ 2:47 pm:
I haven’t been in a while, so maybe this issue is already addressed.
I’d like to see an exhibit that highlights the value Lincoln put on education and reading.
Largely self-taught, he often wrote movingly of his hunger for education and the efforts his step-mother, Sarah, took to teach him (there used to be a mural in downtown Charleston highlighting that aspect of their relationship).
Lincoln sent his son, Robert, to Choate and Harvard, the most prestigious and expensive schools in the country. That was a heavy lift for a Springfield lawyer at the time, and a testament to the value Lincoln put on education.
- Michelle Flaherty - Friday, Jul 15, 16 @ 2:48 pm:
Sell the hat for as much as you can get and then never mention it again.
- Anon - Friday, Jul 15, 16 @ 3:02 pm:
===I’d like to see an exhibit that highlights the value Lincoln put on education and reading.===
The role Lincoln and Illinois played with the ultimate passage of the Morrill Act is worth a display of some sort, especially with the significance that land grant universities have played throughout the country.
- A guy - Friday, Jul 15, 16 @ 3:10 pm:
I like the approach being taken. Do what you’re doing.
- Steve Rogers - Friday, Jul 15, 16 @ 3:16 pm:
Don’t let the political hirings take over the place as has happened in the past. Allow the professional historians and librarians and museum personnel to do what they were trained to do.
- Ghost - Friday, Jul 15, 16 @ 3:18 pm:
come up with an annual historic lincoln based festival; music, food, period costumes. outdoor skits. oral presentation like at the time etc. An event that grows and draws people. Like chicagos lollapalooza and taste of chicago etc but historical. make it when school is out. look for sponsors. close off streets. go big. be prepared for low turnout until it catches on.
- ILPundit - Friday, Jul 15, 16 @ 3:32 pm:
Ask people what Amy Martin and Eileen Mackovich would do. Then, do the opposite.
- Anonymous - Friday, Jul 15, 16 @ 3:35 pm:
He needs to start, or increase, publicity about the museum. Most people that I interact with do not know that the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield even exists. A traveling exhibition around the state could be considered as a way to spread the word about its existence.
- Artifact - Friday, Jul 15, 16 @ 3:46 pm:
Get to know and work with your colleagues at the Illinois State Museum (the ones that remain, that is).
- Just Chilling - Friday, Jul 15, 16 @ 3:54 pm:
I’m with Anon @3:02 — How about calling attention to Mr. Lincoln’s accomplishments in nation-building: the Morril Act, railroads, etc. His Presidency may have been defined by the Civil War, but his national vision was much grander than that.
- Excessively Rabid - Friday, Jul 15, 16 @ 4:03 pm:
He knows what to do without my advice. People I know at the museum are thrilled to have a knowledgeable professional take over. I hope he can work with somebody to clean house on that foundation board. Louise Taper, who sold items to the museum at such an enormous price, for example, has an obvious conflict of interest and never should have been on it in the first place. They really need to clean up the legal underpinnings at all the historic sites as far as what is whose responsibility. My understanding is the foundations exist to raise money for the sites, but some of them seem to think they run the sites. Others are run basically for the benefit of the foundation director.
- Former State Employee - Friday, Jul 15, 16 @ 4:09 pm:
Be extra nice to the volunteers. They have held things together through the past years of turmoil.
- OurMagician - Friday, Jul 15, 16 @ 4:15 pm:
Too Civil Wary, there are other aspects to Lincoln than that. Of course the Civil War is an important part of his Presidency but it’s not like he didn’t do other things. Also, the re election in 1864 was no sure thing and if you’re going focus on the 1860 election, then the 1864 deserves some attention as well and how it played out.
- The Fool On The Hill - Friday, Jul 15, 16 @ 4:19 pm:
Polish your resume while you can.
- BBG Watch - Friday, Jul 15, 16 @ 4:27 pm:
I’ve never been to Springfield but love Lincoln’s history. I hope to get down this Fall and have the opportunity to see the museum. Good luck in your new position!
- Interested - Friday, Jul 15, 16 @ 4:31 pm:
Ghost @ 3:18
We could call it “Lincolnfest”!
- Responsa - Friday, Jul 15, 16 @ 5:13 pm:
Being from KY Lowe already knows this–but I did not until recently when I visited the Todd home in Lexington: Abraham Lincoln had 5 brothers- in law who served the Confederacy including Brigadier Gen. Helm, the husband of Lincoln’s favorite sister-in law. When you couple all this domestic turbulence along with the heartache of the death of his sons, and the responsibility of the Presidency (prosecuting the war being only part of his job) it is mind-boggling. I think fully understanding his strength and greatness is not possible without focusing on all this intertwined complexity and I’d like to see it expanded at the ALPLM.