2014 Lincoln Heritage Museum Magazine Lincoln Daily News.com April 26, 2014 3
history can be found at the museum: the original Lincoln
town charter drawn up by Lincoln; Logan County’s first
two land grants, a legal document signed with an “X”
by Lincoln’s father Thomas; an invitation to the 1865
inaugural ball; correspondence from Abraham Lincoln,
nearly every member of his cabinet, and the military
leaders during the Civil War; one of the earliest known
printings of Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address; and much
more. Lincoln artifacts on display include a table from
the log-cabin home of New Salem schoolmaster Mentor
Graham, at which a young Abe Lincoln studied grammar
and surveying; the desk he used in the Illinois legislature;
an ivory-handled dinner bell from the Lincolns’ Springfield
home; and tassels from the covering of his coffin. The Hall
of the presidents, located just outside the main museum
area, was designed to honor all those who have served in
the position of chief executive of this country. On display
are documents signed by every president and almost every
first lady, together with their pictures and commemorative
medals.
Robert Todd Lincoln Beckwith, great grandson and the
last living descendant of Abraham Lincoln received an
honorary degree from Lincoln College in 1976. As part of
his visit to Lincoln College Beckwith presented the college
with several items for the Lincoln College Museum. These
included: several pieces of a Gold Band Haviland China
service belonging to Robert Todd Lincoln; a Meissen
service butter dish in violet pattern which had belonged to
Mary Todd Lincoln; and an inlaid chair that had been used
for receptions in the East Room of the White House during
the Lincoln administration.
After Paul Beaver retired as director of the museum in
2000, a new director, Ron Keller, continued the work of
caring for the collections at Lincoln College. It has been
during Keller’s tenure that the Lincoln College Museum
was renamed the Lincoln Heritage Museum, to broaden
its appeal to greater audiences. Keller continued the
tradition left by Beaver of working in greater collaboration
with the local community and central Illinois region
to turn the museum into a tourist destination, but also
networking nationally to afford the museum a greater
national spotlight. The museum began hosting teachers’
seminars, special exhibitions and special events both at
the museum and off-campus, and beginning the research
and publication of books. Cramped space, greater
conservation needs, and new opportunities for growth
prompted discussion towards a new museum project,
which became a reality with the construction of the Lincoln
Center on campus in 2010.
Lincoln Heritage Museum
