14 2014 Lincoln Heritage Museum Magazine Lincoln Daily News.com April 26, 2014
On Saturday morning the parking
lot at the new Lincoln Heritage
Museum was the scene of a grand
opening ceremony. The day began
with several guest speakers and was
hosted by Lincoln College President
John Blackburn.
After hearing from college trustee
Dan Weinberg, state Rep. Rich
Brauer, Mayor Keith Snyder and
state Sen. Bill Brady, Blackburn
introduced Ron Keller, the museum
curator and director.
Before turning the podium over
to Keller, Blackburn made a few
introductory remarks.
He said he wanted to recognize the
assistant director, Anne Moseley,
who has done wonderful work on
the museum, as well as many others
who have been involved in the
project.
Introducing Keller, Blackburn
noted that he is not only the
director of the museum but also
a “powerful and great history
and political science professor.”
Blackburn continued: “That is
important to our students because
he brings that knowledge of
Lincoln and the Civil War period
and his knowledge of history into
the classroom and connects the
dots for our students. He is the
co-author of ‘Abraham Lincoln
in Logan County' and ‘A Respect
for the Office: Letters from the
President.' In 2009 Keller was given
by the state governor ‘The Honor
of Lincoln,' which is the highest
honor given to citizens of Illinois,
to individuals who work for the
betterment of humanity, and whose
dedication are the principles that
Abraham Lincoln stood for.
“I can’t tell you enough how many
hours Ron Keller has spent getting
us to where we are, and how many
selfless decisions he has made to
make sure this museum is what
it was supposed to be. We are
very fortunate to have faculty and
directors like Ron Keller.”
Keller opened by saying he also
wanted to recognize and thank
Moseley, "who day-to-day has
poured her heart, her time and
talents into this museum, and she
needs as much recognition as I do,
maybe more.”
Keller went on to say he would
borrow a phrase, or rather, alter a
phrase: “It takes a village to raise a
museum."
He spoke about all the help the
college and museum have had
throughout the years and drew
special attention to those who
actually put the vision into form.
He
acknowledged
Taylor Studios
of Rantoul,
Edison Studios
of Little Rock,
Ark., and Native
Sun Productions
of San Antonio,
Texas, and
said there were
representatives
from two of the
firms in the audience to witness the
grand opening.
He also thanked Lincoln College
and its board of trustees, the LC
maintenance crew, the ceremony
planning staff and many others
who have been dedicated to
making the grand opening a special
event. Finally he thanked the
hundreds of financial donors who
contributed to the museum, and he
mentioned specifically the Woods
Foundation.
Keller then spoke about a favorite
poem of Abraham Lincoln,
“Mortality.” He said Lincoln
committed the poem to memory
and wrote it out as his personal
form of therapy to help himself
deal with depression. The museum
is the proud owner of one of only
two copies of the poem written in
Lincoln’s hand.
In the spring of 2013, the Lincoln
College Music Theory II students
were asked to compose original
music for the poem. Ten students
participated, and of the 10, Cody
Garretson’s composition was
chosen as the best.
Keller read a recent quote from
Garretson about his piece: “My
composition is quite simple, but as
