Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Four score and seven years ago....

Ok, it's been a little bit longer than that. On February 12, 2009, the people of Illinois as well as citizens of the United States will be celebrating the 200th anniversary of the birth of our nation's 16th President, Abraham Lincoln. Did you know Lincoln was born hours apart from Charles Darwin? Take that to your next trivia contest. Lincoln's greatest challenge as President was leading a nation at war with itself. The famous Battle of Gettysburg in the U.S. Civil War inspired Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, which Lincoln modestly predicted would not be remembered. Take a stroll down a time line of Lincoln's life, sift through his papers, join an association in honor of his life and work, read about his personal struggle with depression, or just find an event to attend in celebration of the man who knew that our nation, divided, would not stand.

Be sure to stop by the Parkland Library throughout February for the Lincoln book display!

1 comment:

  1. HAPPY BIRTHDAY ABE!
    The State Library is proud to join in the celebration next week of the 200th anniversary of the birth of President Abraham Lincoln. If your library is looking for information about Lincoln, you'll find an abundance of material on our website.Learn about the Lincoln patent and other Lincoln related patents ( http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/library/what_we_have/patents_and_trademarks/lincolnpatents.html)
    Print out commemorative Lincoln bookmarks ( http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/publications/pdf_publications/liblincolnbookmarks.pdf)
    Read about Lincoln the author ( http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/publications/pdf_publications/lda593.pdf)
    Find Lincoln Documents in the Illinois Digital Archives (IDA) ( http://www.idaillinois.org/cdm4/browse.php)
    More Lincoln documents in IDA ( http://www.idaillinois.org/cdm4/browse.php?CISOROOT=%2Fisa)
    And read the winning essays in our "Essays About Lincoln" competition ( http://illinoiscenterforthebook.org/projectsa.html)


    And here's a bit of interesting trivia: Abraham Lincoln was the first person to borrow a book from the Illinois State Library, back in 1842!

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