Saddened to hear about the closing of the Lincoln Museum of Ft. Wayne, Indiana (long-time publishers of the awesome Lincoln Lore), I made a special trip to visit it in June 2008. Just two weeks before they closed, it was a special treat to see the museum. Fantastic.
What happy news it was to hear today (thanks to EverythingLincoln.com visitor Bruce) that the museum collection will be moving to Indianapolis at the Indiana State Museum.
In the running to acquire the collection had been the Lincoln Presidential Museum in Springfield. Though it is definitely a place any Lincoln fan should visit, I found the Springfield museum to be the least visitor friendly and to have the worst photo policy of any Lincoln place I've visited (in fact, I can't think of any museum I've visited with a less-friendly photo policy). In contrast, Lincoln College (Lincoln campus), the Lincoln Museum in Ft. Wayne, and the Abraham Lincoln Book Shop of Chicago had extremely friendly policies and had staff who were just as friendly, graciously sharing their knowledge in stimulating conversations.
Lest I digress ;-), the point is that the wonderful collection that had been acquired and maintained in Ft. Wayne will still be available for public viewing--and I do hope that the Indiana State Museum will eagerly embrace Lincoln fans who come to visit.
Hi there - At the Indiana State Museum we are super excited to have received the Lincoln Collection from the Lincoln Financial Foundation. We are looking forward to Lincoln fans from all over the country visiting the museum. Expect to see the first Lincoln exhibit in early 2010.
Posted by: Michelle | December 29, 2008 at 07:34 AM