SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) — A major new exhibit will open next week at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield. The exhibit will explore the idea of "home" and how that has been experienced by various Illinoisans over the centuries.
“Here I Have Lived: Home in Illinois” will feature:
- Black Hawk, the Sauk leader who refused to be driven away from the land where he grew up
- Oscar Micheaux, a farm boy who broke barriers for Black artists in Hollywood
- Michelle Obama, who started out in a Chicago bungalow and wound up in the White House
- Louisa Phifer, who ran a farm and raised seven children while her husband served in the Civil War
The exhibit, free with regular admission, opens March 23 and runs through Jan. 21, 2024, in the museum’s Illinois Gallery, a space used for highlighting Illinois history as part of the ALPLM’s role as the state historical library.
“Illinois has welcomed refugees and entrepreneurs. It has produced artists and reformers. It offered a helping hand to some and a cold shoulder to others. Every one of them had a different idea of what it meant to call Illinois their home,” said Christina Shutt, executive director of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum. “What better way to connect with people of the past, both famous and unknown, than by focusing on the very personal idea of home.”
The stories are told through photographs and rare artifacts. Visitors will see a photo locket carried by Mary Lincoln, a first edition of Black Hawk’s autobiography and Ronald Reagan’s college letterman sweater. They’ll also find a sculpture that was displayed in the Lincoln home, a table designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and a Supreme Court ruling that changed the life of playwright Lorraine Hansberry.
Questions throughout the exhibit will prompt visitors to think about what home means to them.
A bust owned by Abraham and Mary Lincoln will be part of the exhibit. Photo: Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum
Among the Springfield people featured in the exhibit are socialite Susan Lawrence Dana, Portuguese dressmaker Ritta DeFreitas and attorney Charles Gibbs, whose office was at the starting point of the 1908 attacks on Springfield’s Black residents.
“Springfield’s history has so many layers that it was hard to narrow it down to just a handful of people for this exhibit,” Shutt said. “We think visitors will learn something new about familiar names and also learn some new names with fascinating stories.”
The exhibit takes its name from a phrase Lincoln used when saying farewell to the city of Springfield for the final time:
“Here I have lived a quarter of a century, and have passed from a young to an old man. Here my children have been born, and one is buried. I now leave, not knowing when, or whether ever, I may return …”
The exhibit is sponsored in part by Isringhausen Imports of Illinois.
Copyright 2023. WAND TV. All rights reserved.
