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Friday, July 04, 2008

Ind. Gov't. - More on: Competition fierce for Fort Wayne's Lincoln Museum

In reporting about the closing of the Lincoln Museum in Fort Wayne, I wrote on March 9th: "Kentucky and especially Illinois make a big deal over Abraham Lincoln. The State of Indiana has done comparatively little. * * * The is certainly an opportunity for the State of Indiana that likely will never come again." A number of additional ILB entries followed.

Today, on July 4th, columnist Matthew Tully has a report titled "Hoosiers bid sad farewell to museum." It begins:

It was a sad day in Fort Wayne this past Sunday.

A line stretched more than 100 people long out of The Lincoln Museum in the city's downtown, as residents waited in the rain for the chance to pay their last respects to a museum dedicated to the nation's 16th president. The museum was closing, and the future of its massive, $20 million collection is uncertain.

Joe Milledge, a 50-year-old salesman, was among the many waiting in line. Closing time was approaching and the rain had become a steady drizzle, but Milledge wanted to enjoy "the last of many visits" to a local institution.

Later in the column:
Lincoln lived in Southern Indiana from the ages of 7 to 21. Still, our state has never had as much of a public claim to him as have our neighbors in Illinois, and the location of a Lincoln Museum in Northern Indiana has been something of a curiosity.

Why was it here?

The history stems from the interest a Fort Wayne businessman named Arthur Hall had in the former president. Hall in 1905 founded the Lincoln National Life Insurance Co., naming it for Lincoln with the blessing of the president's family.

Over the years, Hall and others affiliated with the company created a research foundation and put together a world-class collection of books, photographs, historical documents and other items. The foundation created a small museum in the 1930s and opened the larger one downtown in 1995.

The company, now known as Lincoln Financial, moved its headquarters to Philadelphia a decade ago. So it's no surprise that the foundation, which spent $1.5 million a year to run the museum, decided to close it earlier this year.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on July 4, 2008 09:03 AM
Posted to Indiana Government