Hildene to fete Lincoln's 200th
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By PATRICK McARDLE Herald Staff - Published: January 5, 2009
MANCHESTER — Hildene, the historic home of Robert Todd Lincoln, is planning a number of events during the next few months to mark the bicentennial of the birth of Lincoln's father, President Abraham Lincoln.
There are a number of celebrations planned around the United States as the 200th birthday of America's 16th president approaches on Feb. 12, but Hildene has long been a learning center dedicated to the Lincoln family.
Hildene's public relations liaison Paula Maynard said it was an exciting time at the estate because one of its most well-known visual symbols has returned: One of Lincoln's stovepipe hats has come back to Manchester after being displayed for almost a year at Disney World's Epcot Center in Florida.
Hildene is expanding the Lincoln room, a room of permanent exhibits dedicated to Abraham Lincoln and his family, to about twice its existing size, according to Maynard.
Some of Hildene's traditional events have been given a twist in honor of the bicentennial as well.
The winter history series will focus on Lincoln as a leader, as a commander-in-chief and as a lawyer and the final lecture in the series will look at Lincoln's character.
The first lecture, scheduled for Jan. 22, will be given by Hildene's Executive Director Seth Bongartz.
"It's about five key decisions Lincoln made throughout his presidency and what I'm going to do is tie it together around his singular focus on saving the Union and his extraordinary ability to do the right thing. Lincoln had this combination of an unbelievable intellect, good sense and leadership," he said.
Bongartz said the presence of Hildene gave local residents a strong link to the national celebration of Lincoln's bicentennial. "It's remarkable to have Lincoln to the extent that we do in Vermont," he said.
At 5:30 p.m. Jan. 30, Ronald C. White, a Lincoln scholar, will present a lecture about his latest book, "A. Lincoln: A Biography."
White will also give a keynote address at Lincoln's birthday luncheon on Jan. 31 at the Equinox Resort in Manchester.
The Lincoln writing competition awards will also be handed out during the luncheon to students from throughout Vermont.
For this contest, the first that was opened to eighth-grade students in the entire state, students were asked to respond to a sentence from Lincoln's second inaugural address which looked for religious meaning behind slavery in America and the Civil War.
Maynard said she had an opportunity to take part in the reading and judging of the essays.
"Let me tell you, as an old social studies teacher, I was impressed," she said.
Awards will be presented to: first-place winner Lillian Dear from Long Trail School, Dorset; second-place winner Julia Gilbert, Main Street Middle School, Montpelier; third-place winner Danielle Liguori, Essex Middle School, Essex Junction; and honorable mentions to Eliza Farley, Arlington Memorial High School and Jordan LaMothe, Long Trail School.
"We were going to expand the essay contest to the whole state based on the success we've had with it over the last few years but it just seemed really appropriate to do it now to go along with the bicentennial. We're really pleased that the winners have really come from the four corners of Vermont," she said.
While some of the events are scheduled to tie in to the bicentennial, others go on through 2009.
On Feb. 26, Retired U.S. Naval Academy professor Craig Symonds will speak on "Lincoln as Commander-in-Chief"; on March 26, Anderson University professor, Brian Dirck, will speak on "Lincoln the Lawyer"; and on April 23, Connecticut College professor emeritus Michael Burlingame will speak on "Lincoln: A Study in Character."
The lectures, including Bongartz's, will begin at 7 p.m. in the Beckwith Room at Hildene's welcome center. The free lectures are 45 minutes, followed by a 30-minute question and answer period.
Maynard said Hildene staff had also received favorable comments about the first children's book it had published, "Mr. Lincoln's Gift," which has recently been released in paperback.
For more information about Hildene and bicentennial events, call the estate at 367-7960, e-mail carrie@hildene.org or visit the Web site at www.hildene.org.
Contact Patrick McArdle at patrick.mcardle@rutlandherald.com.
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