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An aerial photo a large white building with big pillars.
Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.
Further information: Abraham Lincoln and Cultural depictions of Abraham Lincoln

[{Abraham Lincoln]], U.S. president 1861-65, has been memorialized in many town, city, and county names,[1] including the capital of Nebraska. The first public monument to Abraham Lincoln was a statue erected in front of the District of Columbia City Hall in 1868, three years after his assassination.[2] Lincoln's name and image appear in numerous other places, such as the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. and Lincoln's sculpture on Mount Rushmore[3] Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park in Hodgenville, Kentucky,[4] Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial in Lincoln City, Indiana,[5] Lincoln's New Salem, Illinois,[6] and Lincoln Home National Historic Site in Springfield, Illinois[7] commemorate the president.[8] Ford's Theatre and Petersen House (where he died) are maintained as museums, as is the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, located in Springfield.[9][10] The Lincoln Tomb in Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield, Illinois, contains his remains and those of his wife Mary and three of his four sons, Edward, William, and Thomas.[11]

On the evening of November 7, 1876, a group of counterfeiters entered Lincoln's tomb with the intent of absconding with his mortal remains and holding them for ransom in order to secure the release of their leader, Benjamin Boyd, an imprisoned engraver of counterfeit currency plates. The group entered his tomb, but had only succeeded in partially dislodging its marble lid before a US Secret Service agent who had infiltrated their number alerted law enforcement authorities. Although several escaped, most served a single year prison term in Joliet State Prison. For much of the next decade (c1876-1887), Lincoln's tomb was mobile, to avoid further unwanted disinterment.[12]

Within a year of this death, his image began to be disseminated throughout the world on stamps,[13] and he is the only U.S. President to appear on a U.S. airmail stamp.[14] Currency honoring the president includes the United States' five-dollar bill and the Lincoln cent, which represents the first regularly circulating U.S. coin to feature an actual person's image.[15] Lincoln's image on the five-dollar bill was used by Salvador Dali to help commemorate the U.S. Bicentennial with his creation of "Gala looking at the Mediterranean Sea which at a distance of 20 meters is transformed into the portrait of Abraham Lincoln (Homage to Rothko)" and Lincoln in Dalivision, the earlier of which was displayed at The Guggenheim in New York during the 1976 Bicentennial.[16]

The first statue of Lincoln outside the United States was erected in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1893. The work of George Edwin Bissell, it stands on a memorial to Scots immigrants who enlisted with the Union during the Civil War, the only memorial to the war erected outside the United States. A second statue by George Grey Barnard was erected in Manchester, England in 1919. Situated in Lincoln Square south of Manchester Town Hall, the statue commemorates the impact the American Civil War had on the cotton-producing region of Manchester and Lancashire.[17] A large statue of Lincoln standing was unveiled near Westminster Abbey in London, on July 28, 1920, in an elaborate ceremony. The principal addresses were delivered in the abbey church.[18]

Abraham Lincoln's birthday, February 12, was never a national holiday, but it was at one time observed by as many as 30 states.[1] In 1971, Presidents Day became a national holiday, combining Lincoln's and Washington's birthdays and replacing most states' celebration of his birthday.[19] The Abraham Lincoln Association was formed in 1908 to commemorate the centennial of Lincoln's birth.[20] In 2000, Congress established the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission to commemorate his 200th birthday in February 2009.[21]

Lincoln sites remain popular tourist attractions, but crowds have thinned. In the late 1960s, 650,000 people a year visited the home in Springfield, slipping to 393,000 in 2000–2003. Likewise visits to New Salem fell by half, probably because of the enormous draw of the new museum in Springfield. Visits to the Lincoln Memorial in Washington peaked at 4.3 million in 1987 and have since declined. However crowds at Ford's Theatre in Washington have grown sharply.[22]

Notes

  1. ^ a b Dennis, p. 194.
  2. ^ "Renovation and Expansion of the Historic DC Courthouse". DC Court of Appeals. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-10-23.
  3. ^ "Mount Rushmore National Memorial". U.S. National Park Service. Archived from the original on 2011-10-23.
  4. ^ "Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Site". U.S. National Park Service. Archived from the original on 2011-10-23.
  5. ^ "Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial". U.S. National Park Service. Archived from the original on 2011-10-24.
  6. ^ "Lincoln's New Salem". Illinois Historic Preservation Agency. Archived from the original on 2011-10-24.
  7. ^ "Lincoln Home National Historic Site". U.S. National Park Service. Archived from the original on 2011-10-24.
  8. ^ Peterson, pp. 312, 368.
  9. ^ "The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum". Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum. Archived from the original on 2011-10-25.
  10. ^ "About Ford's". Ford's Theatre. Archived from the original on 2011-10-25.
  11. ^ "Lincoln Tomb". Illinois Historic Preservation Agency. Archived from the original on 2011-10-25.
  12. ^ Keith Verinese. "The Adventures of Abraham Lincoln's Corpse". io9.comdate=April 5, 2012.
  13. ^ Healey, Matthew (April 20, 2009). "Lincoln Stamps Bring Neary $2 Million at a New York Auction". New York Times. Archived from the original on 2011-10-26. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |deadurl= (help)
  14. ^ Cummings, p. 284.
  15. ^ Vinciguerra, Thomas (February 7, 2009). "Now if Only We Could Mint Lincoln Himself". The New York Times. p. WK4. Archived from the original on 2011-10-26. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |deadurl= (help)
  16. ^ "Lincoln in Dalivision".
  17. ^ "Abraham Lincoln - Manchester". Manchester Art Galleries. Retrieved 2012-12-26.
  18. ^ Twenty-Sixth Annual Report of the American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society, 1921 (Albany, NY: J. B. Lyon Company Printers, 1922), pp. 194–95.
  19. ^ Schwartz (2009), pp. 196–199.
  20. ^ Peterson pp. 147, 263.
  21. ^ Carroll, James R. (January 12, 2009). "Let the Lincoln Bicentennial Celebrations Begin". The Courier-Journal. Archived from the original on 2011-10-26.
  22. ^ Schwartz (2009), pp. 153–155.
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