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Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Inaugural
February 11
The Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Inaugural started in Kentucky, sort of. Sunday saw a lecture by Harold Holzer that was not a direct Inaugural event. The Bicentennial Committee met on Monday morning and following that, the first event kicked off at the Henry Clay.
The afternoon ' Lincoln on Leadership' symposium featured Pulitzer prize winner, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Ph.D. on the panel of speakers and Richard Goodwin, speechwriter and advisor to President John Kennedy. In the lobby of the fourth floor of the Henry Clay Hotel were individual art works by Lincoln Artists, information from the Kentucky Historical Society and the Lincoln Bicentennial T-Shirts were first offered to the public.
The shirts selling at $25. each represent an important addition to the collection of American Lincolnania. The first shirt picture photo was taken by Preston Butler (an ambrotype) in Springfield on Monday August 13, 1860. It was taken for artist John Henry Brown and one of 8 taken that day. The second picture was taken three years later by Lewis W. Walker in Washington D.C. in 1863 and is an "O-82" listing in Ostendorf. His watch chain, a presetation to him in 1863 by the California delegation was the only ornamentation he wore. Both photos come from the soon to be published book "Color of Lincoln". (www.ColorOfLincoln.com)
The limited editions (300 of each of design only) means that very few of these Lincoln collectibles will be in the public's hands. Lincoln collectors interested in capturing this rare opportunity should contact the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission and purchase their shirts immediately.
Monday night, the gala was held at the Kentucky Center for the Arts and the snow started as the attendees began arriving. The lobby of of the Kentucky Center was filled with displays representing Lincoln and Kentucky history groups.
The pre-event reception for the attendees availing themselves of the sold-out Premiere Package were able to socialize and share their common interest in Abraham Lincoln. Missing were the advertised University of Louisville Marching Band pre-performance music. Prominently featured was a display of Lincoln's pocketwatch.
The hors d'oeuvres were billed as reminiscent of the Lincoln Inauguration, but frankly there was not much in the way of historical reference to indicate that the promises of historical accuracy for the appetizers were fulfilled.
The Kentucky Salute to Abraham Lincoln started with the National Anthem and soprano Angela Brown recreating Marian Anderson's 1939 rendition of "My Country 'Tis of Thee", accompanied by the Louisville Orchestra. Following that, Louisville native, Bob Edwards as Master of Ceremonies introduced the famous movie and television producer Mr. Jerry Bruckeheimer and his wife, author and Kentucky native Linda Bruckheimer for introductory remarks. Following, award winning actor Sam Watterson and Lincoln Scholar Harold Holzer presented the production "Lincoln Seen and Heard" a narrative on the photographic history of Lincoln by Holzer interspersed with Lincoln quotations from the time of the photos read by Waterson. Interestingly, the presentation closed on the same black and white photos that were used in full color on the inaugural t-shirts.
A brief intermission followed and then the Louisville Orchestra presented a collection of works from Stephen Foster, said to be one of Lincoln's favorite composers. Mentioning that Lincoln always had a mouth harp with him and called it his travelling brass band, Bob Edwards peresented the musical trubutes, including soprano Angela Brown performing a operatic treatments of spirituals from the Civil War era. A new Lincoln work, "Lincoln At Ease" by Peter Schickele was presented with narration by Mr. Brown.
The Louisville Courier Journal Metro section article by Chris Kenning has the headline "Bicentennial starts today rain or shine". How wrong Chris was.
The snow was 5-6 inches deep in Louisville and as 5:30 am approached the Hodgenville kickoff was cancelled. As of the current time there have been no plans set to resechedule the event.
COLOR PHOTOS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN ANNOUNCED
New book of full color Lincoln photo collection announced:
Press Release
http://www.ColorOfLincoln.com
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