NATIONAL NEWS
February 15, 2008
Abraham Lincoln's Summer Retreat
A place of refuge for the Civil War President opens its doors just in time for President's Day
The old cottage on a hill has served as a dormitory for a military band, a guesthouse, a bar and lounge and office space, among other things. But most notably, it was a place of refuge during the Civil War for President Abraham Lincoln and his family. For three summers, from 1862 to 1864, President Lincoln, his wife, Mary, and son Tad lived in the 34-room retreat. On February 18, the cottage, in Washington, DC, opens to the public for the first time. Visitors will have the opportunity to roam through its rooms and watch and listen to recordings of actors portraying the Lincolns and their important visitors.
 |  ALEXANDER GARDNER—GETTY IMAGES Abraham Lincoln |
Though historians knew of the Lincoln retreat, few were aware that it was still standing. In the late 1990s, it was "rediscovered" by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. In 2000, former President Bill Clinton declared the site a national monument. "This is one of those places that is kind of hidden in plain sight," says Richard Moe, president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, "and yet it's one of the most significant historic sites."
The cottage has been restored to what curators think it looked like while Lincoln stayed there. Much of the available history has been gathered from diaries, letters and newspaper accounts. Curators were able to recreate curtains, carpets and other items, but not the actual furnishings. There are no pictures portraying what the inside of the house looked like.
 JACQUELYN MARTIN—AP The rooms inside the Lincoln cottage are full of history, not furniture. | |
Records suggest that President Lincoln may have conceived some of his famous speeches, wartime strategies, letters and policies in the quiet of this house, three miles from the White House. Some historians say that Lincoln may have written the Emancipation Proclamation here. The document declared, "that all persons held as slaves ... shall be forever free."
The site reveals a more personal side of the President. Here, Lincoln mourned the death of his 12-year-old son, Willie. He read Shakespeare aloud on the cottage steps. He played checkers with his son Tad and spent time with soldiers in the nearby Union Army camp. "No other place offers more insight into the Lincoln presidency--and the character of Lincoln the man," Moe says. Visitors to the cottage will get a different look at the President than they might at the Lincoln Memorial or other historic sites (see below for Kid Reporter Machaela Jensen's visit to the Lincoln Library in Springfield, Illinois).
In its first year, more than 45,000 people are expected to visit the museum in Washington, D.C. Curators hope that as more people hear about the site they will bring forward privately held documents and details about the home.
A Visit to the Lincoln Museum in Springfield, Illinois
By Machaela Jensen
Smoking canons, quaking floors and talking ghosts greet visitors at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, Illinois. At the museum, guests travel back in time with Lincoln, viewing scenes from his boyhood to the devastating sorrows and major victories he experienced as President. Models of Lincoln were carefully constructed down to every last detail, with human hairs placed individually for a strikingly realistic effect.
|  COURTESY MACHAELA JENSEN TFK Kid Reporter Machaela Jensen poses with the Lincoln family. |
"Lincoln's Eyes" is a high-tech film experience. The exhibit gives visitors the sense that they are standing in a Civil War battle. The floor trembles and canons roar and belch smoke. It is hard not to imagine the weight Lincoln must have felt as President of a country being torn apart by war.
"Ghosts in the Library" is an astonishing hologram presentation. Ghosts of Lincoln and Civil War soldiers rise from the dust to tell their stories, and then fade back into the pages of history. A quill floats above a table and writes Lincoln's words in thin air as they are read aloud. The haunting exhibit leaves visitors pondering whether they had actually been in the presence of ghosts.
Other exhibits portray Mary Todd Lincoln's life and Lincoln's pre-presidential years. Among the most impressive and moving exhibits were those that showed the misery and horrors of slavery and the awful human toll of the Civil War. The Lincoln Museum was well worth a full day's visit.
