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Friday, December 12, 2008

Ind. Gov't. - More on "State group appears victor for Lincoln Museum items" [Updated]

Updating this ILB entry from this morning, Angela Mapes Turner and Niki Kelly of the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette posted this story a few minutes ago, that begins:

The collection of Abraham Lincoln memorabilia long housed at Fort Wayne's shuttered Lincoln Museum will stay in Indiana, state officials said Friday.

Gov. Mitch Daniels and Indiana State Museum President and CEO Barry Dressel announced this morning in Indianapolis that a coalition from the state, led by the museum and the Allen County Public Library, will receive the $20 million artifact collection.

"This was the right place and the right circumstance for this priceless piece of American history," Daniels said.

The coalition included the Indiana Historical Society, Indiana State Library and Friends of the Lincoln Museum. It was led by Ian Rolland, former chairman of Lincoln Financial Group.

Last March I wrote "Kentucky and especially Illinois make a big deal over Abraham Lincoln. The State of Indiana has done comparatively little." Well, not this time! Kudos to all those who joined together to make this happen.

[Updated at 2:30 PM] Here is the Governor's press release. Some quotes:
Indianapolis (Dec. 12, 2008) Governor Mitch Daniels announced today that Lincoln Financial Foundation will donate its collection of Abraham Lincoln artifacts and documents to the State of Indiana.

"We enter Lincoln's bicentennial year with the goal of reestablishing Indiana's central place in his life," said Daniels. "This decision comes during Indiana's 192nd anniversary, but this is no birthday gift. It was well earned by the excellent team that represented us all. Indiana pledges the most exquisite care and the widest possible public availability of these priceless pieces of our history."

Valued at more than $20 million, this is the world's largest private collection of memorabilia from Abraham Lincoln's personal and presidential life. It will be housed at the Indiana State Museum in Indianapolis and the Allen County Public Library (ACPL) in Fort Wayne. Among the more than 20,000 items in the collection are signed copies of the Emancipation Proclamation and the Thirteenth Amendment; three-dimensional artifacts including Lincoln's wallet and a chair he sat in for some of his most famous photographs; artwork; thousands of documents; photographs; prints and rare books. * * *

The Indiana team, including representatives from the Indiana State Museum, ACPL, Indiana Historical Society, Indiana State Library, Friends of the Lincoln Museum, and Governor Daniels' office prepared the winning bid. An endowment, funded by private donations, will now be established to pay for expenses at the Indiana State Museum and ACPL to maintain the collection and make it available to the widest possible audience.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on December 12, 2008 12:36 PM
Posted to Indiana Government