Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) is considered one of this country’s greatest presidents. He has been called America’s first citizen and Illinois’ favorite son. These precarious times make us long for his guidance and steady hand. Of course, Lincoln’s words and actions — the Gettysburg Address and the Emancipation Proclamation, for example — are surely history-defining. But the objects associated with him are also crucially important for understanding his world, for experiencing his time, and for recovering his very person.
As a scholar and as an art historian, I became interested in Abraham Lincoln as we approached his 2009 bicentennial. At that time, I traveled around the state of Illinois for the Illinois Humanities Council as a “Road Scholar” giving public talks on Lincoln in art and photography. In my American art classes I include paintings, sculptures and prints of Lincoln, and in my History of Photography class we spend time on the 130 extant photographs of him. He was the most photographed President up to his time and knew the marketing value of having his picture taken.
Chicago is particularly blessed with several masterful outdoor sculptures of Lincoln; the Chicago History Museum and Art Institute of Chicago also house meaningful artifacts and artworks. In Springfield the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, the Lincoln Home, and the Edwards Place have important holdings.
The Conservation Center has been privileged to restore and treat several Lincoln-related objects. As a group, these objects literally embody Lincoln’s life and career.
A major piece is the “Courting Couch,” from the Springfield home of Mary Todd’s sister, Elizabeth, on which Lincoln and Mary embarked on their dynamic relationship. A major restoration project that involved the Springfield Lincoln community, it provides intimate contact with the romance that led to a family and an ambitious partner in Mary.
The Center also stored a large, gilt, pier mirror owned by the family of an inventor of an early mechanical reaper. Early in his law career, Lincoln was part of the legal team defending the underdog inventor against the powerful rival company, Cyrus McCormick, of Chicago. The shabby way Lincoln was treated by his fellow lawyers, including his future cabinet Secretary of War Edwin Stanton — and his presidential leadership style in gathering a “team of rivals” around him — is also part of the history inherent in this magnificent period mirror.
Finally, opera glasses that Lincoln may have used that fateful night at Ford’s Theater, and which probably fell from his coat when they carried him across the street to his passing in Petersen’s Rooming House, were also conserved by The Center. This precious relic actually came into contact with Lincoln’s very face. Poignantly, the opera glasses also symbolize the deep pleasure he took in theater performances.
Though Lincoln can’t bless us with his presence, these artifacts of his life — expertly treated and stabilized — form a meaningful and enduring material connection to him. As a Lincoln fan and scholar, it is comforting to know that as newly discovered and revealed objects come to light, The Conservation Center will be there to ensure their existence for future generations.
Mark B. Pohlad, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Art History, DePaul University, Chicago
Mark B. Pohlad, Ph.D., is an art historian specializing in American art, Chicago topics, and Abraham Lincoln. Besides his many publications, he was featured in a recent episode of Art/Design Chicago speaking on the sculptor Lorado Taft and the World's Columbian Exposition, and on C-SPAN lecturing on the art and photography of Abraham Lincoln. He has taught at DePaul University in the Department of History of Art and Architecture since 1992.
