Contact ~ Lincoln History ~ Links ~ News ~ Penny Drive
Press Release ~ Schedules ~ Event Photos ~ Sponsors

NEWS

2007 - Chicago Sun Times (Feb.)
2006 - Press Release

Chicago Sun-Times - Neil Steinberg Column
February 21, 2007

Let's hear it for common cents
Pennies are a curse -- as I've said before -- dirty little slugs of copper and zinc that cost more to make than they're worth. A government that was halfway bold would have pitched them long ago -- or already decided to do so in 2009, the Lincoln cent's centennial, the perfect time to show the coin the gate.

Instead, pennies collect in bowls at store counters, not even worth carrying away. At home they congregate in coffee cans, slosh around sock drawers, ignored for years.

Sure, you can haul them to the bank, but that's a hassle. You might as well take them to the post office and mail them to the Lincolns 4 Lincoln project at the Michigan City Public Library. The library is rattling the cup so it can stock up on Lincoln books and classroom materials in preparation for next year, when it is hosting a traveling museum-quality exhibit, "Forever Free: Abraham Lincoln's Journey to Emancipation.''

Regular reader and library employee Robin Kohn says that, when the weather is right, people in Michigan City can see Chicago, shimmering like Oz across the lake. They know there are many pennies here. 
Ship those pesky pennies to Michigan City Public Library, 100 E. 4th St. in Michigan City, Ind. 46360. 

Press Release

The Michigan City Public Library is one of sixty-three libraries that
have been selected to host a new tour of
"Forever Free: Abraham Lincoln's Journey to Emancipation, "
an exhibit which reexamines President Lincoln's thoughts about slavery throughout
his political career and the conditions which led to the Emancipation Proclamation.

A new traveling exhibition opening at the Michigan City Public Library
 on February 21, 2008 looks for answers to this question by tracing
Abraham Lincoln's gradual transformation from an antislavery moderate
into "The Great Emancipator," who freed all slaves with a revolutionary
 war-time proclamation in 1863.
 
"Forever Free: Abraham Lincoln's Journey to Emancipation"
will be on display at the library until April 4, 2008.

Organized by the Huntington Library, San Marino, CA, and the
Gilder Lehrman Institute  of American History, New York City,
in cooperation with the American Library Association (ALA),
this traveling exhibition is made possible through a major grant
from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH).



How was it that a nation founded on ideals of freedom and equality was also
home to one of the harshest labor systems the modern world has known?

The Civil War and slavery are topics which must constantly be revisited in
order to help 21st century Americans better understand their causes and more
clearly see how their effects are still with us today.

This exhibit offers our community an opportunity to learn more about how
Abraham Lincoln decided upon emancipation of the slaves, even as he
tried to hold together  a fragile coalition of states in order to preserve the Union.
It is a revealing insight into the values, principles, and ideals that guided
one of our greatest Presidents."

Abraham Lincoln was an obscure Illinois lawyer and politician of humble origins
who rose  in an astonishingly short time to world renown as the leader of a
young nation during one  of its most troubled times. Throughout his life, Lincoln's
dedication to the ideals of freedom and equality for all people did not waver.
 "I want every man to have the chance-and I  believe a black man is entitled to it
-in which he can better his condition," he said early in his political career.

Lincoln was also a pragmatic politician who believed that a direct attack on
slavery  in the South would split the Union and end America's experiment in
self-government.  He steered a middle course during the early years of the
Civil War but became convinced  that ending slavery would help the
Union militarily. Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation transformed the character
of the war by re-committing the nation to its founders' vision
 of freedom and equality for all people.

"Forever Free" draws upon original documents in the collections of the
Huntington Library and the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.
It was curated by John Rhodehamel, Norris Foundation Curator of
American historical manuscripts  at the Huntington Library.

Schedules

National Tour Itinerary

Lincoln Event Photos

Links

	Books for Young Readers
	Books for Adult Readers
	Curriculum Web Sites
	Underground Railroad Bibliography (pdf file)
	Web Sites

Sponsors

For More Information, Contact

Robin Kohn (219) 873-3049 / rkohn@mclib.org
or
Lynne Blitstein (219) 873-3046 / lblit@mclib.org

Michigan City Public Library
100 E. Fourth St.
Michigan City, IN  46360