Lincoln in the News
A fair amount of Lincoln in the news this week:
1. More on the saga of Booth's former home. Since it failed to sell at auction last week (for over $900,000, which seems to be what its owners invested in sprucing up the place), the possibility has arisen that it may be purchased by the local county and turned into a museum. Interestingly, there is some sentiment that the museum should place an emphasis on Shakespeare and theater history rather than the assassination, given the Booth family's distinguished acting pedigree.
2. Yesterday Washington DC hosted a small, poorly attended parade celebrating the 144th anniversary of Lincoln's signing the bill abolishing slavery in the city. Few people realize that Lincoln did this, several months before he began drafting the Emancipation Proclamation, because there was no constitutional question about his and Congress' power to do so. At any rate, yesterday's parade was a rather sad affair--few participants, and some onlookers who had no idea what they were celebrating.
3. In Boston, a collection of rare historical memorabilia was auctioned recently, including a gold watch that Lincoln planned to give to Mary. I couldn't find any details concerning the watch. Was this an anniversary gift, or perhaps something dating back to their courtship days?
4. An article on celebrities and their religions lists Lincoln as a Baptist (along with Britney Spears, Jessica Simpson and Chuck Norris; boy, Abe sure is keeping some heady company here). Well, I suppose this was technically true, since Lincoln's family had a Baptist background. But he was hardly a true believer.
5. Bogus Lincoln Quote Watch: a British politician is mentioned as having a fondness for Lincoln's saying, "You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong." No mention of that one anywhere in a trustworthy Lincoln source. I might start collecting these, and maybe publish them in a book titled Lincoln Never Said This
6. Bogus Lincoln Quote Watch II: President Bush quoted Lincoln in a recent speech as having said, "I have often gone to my knees in prayer out of the conviction that I had no place else to go." Another one that can't be verified. There are a lot of religious-based faux Lincoln quotes, I think fabricated out of desperation by otherwise well-meaning Christians who wanted to claim Lincoln as one of their own.
7. Bogus Lincoln Quote Watch III. Another religious commentator quotes Lincoln as having said, "We must work earnestly in the best light God gives us trusting that so working still conduces to the great ends He ordains." See item 6 above.
8. A nice little story about an immigrant who was having trouble getting his green card in the weeks immediately following 9/11. He bought a picture of Lincoln, hung it in his home, and prayed to Lincoln every night to help him get his green card. The card arrived four months later. At least the guy didn't fabricate some fake Lincoln quote to ge with this tale.
1. More on the saga of Booth's former home. Since it failed to sell at auction last week (for over $900,000, which seems to be what its owners invested in sprucing up the place), the possibility has arisen that it may be purchased by the local county and turned into a museum. Interestingly, there is some sentiment that the museum should place an emphasis on Shakespeare and theater history rather than the assassination, given the Booth family's distinguished acting pedigree.
2. Yesterday Washington DC hosted a small, poorly attended parade celebrating the 144th anniversary of Lincoln's signing the bill abolishing slavery in the city. Few people realize that Lincoln did this, several months before he began drafting the Emancipation Proclamation, because there was no constitutional question about his and Congress' power to do so. At any rate, yesterday's parade was a rather sad affair--few participants, and some onlookers who had no idea what they were celebrating.
3. In Boston, a collection of rare historical memorabilia was auctioned recently, including a gold watch that Lincoln planned to give to Mary. I couldn't find any details concerning the watch. Was this an anniversary gift, or perhaps something dating back to their courtship days?
4. An article on celebrities and their religions lists Lincoln as a Baptist (along with Britney Spears, Jessica Simpson and Chuck Norris; boy, Abe sure is keeping some heady company here). Well, I suppose this was technically true, since Lincoln's family had a Baptist background. But he was hardly a true believer.
5. Bogus Lincoln Quote Watch: a British politician is mentioned as having a fondness for Lincoln's saying, "You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong." No mention of that one anywhere in a trustworthy Lincoln source. I might start collecting these, and maybe publish them in a book titled Lincoln Never Said This
6. Bogus Lincoln Quote Watch II: President Bush quoted Lincoln in a recent speech as having said, "I have often gone to my knees in prayer out of the conviction that I had no place else to go." Another one that can't be verified. There are a lot of religious-based faux Lincoln quotes, I think fabricated out of desperation by otherwise well-meaning Christians who wanted to claim Lincoln as one of their own.
7. Bogus Lincoln Quote Watch III. Another religious commentator quotes Lincoln as having said, "We must work earnestly in the best light God gives us trusting that so working still conduces to the great ends He ordains." See item 6 above.
8. A nice little story about an immigrant who was having trouble getting his green card in the weeks immediately following 9/11. He bought a picture of Lincoln, hung it in his home, and prayed to Lincoln every night to help him get his green card. The card arrived four months later. At least the guy didn't fabricate some fake Lincoln quote to ge with this tale.
posted by brdirck at 2:53 AM
2 Comments:
Here's a link to that Lincoln watch you mentioned: http://americana.heritageauctions.com/common/view_item.php?Sale_No=626&Lot_No=25134&type=prte-pr012706a
Prof. Dirck,
I've written a post at Civilwartalk.com concerning the constitutionality of the District of Columbia Emancipation Act. Constitutional historian David Currie's analysis suggests that substantial questions exist as to whether the Act violated the Fifth Amendment's Takings Clause.
The post may be found at http://civilwartalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=24541
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