Summer brings new opportunities to meet President Lincoln and enjoy live music at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum.
Historic interpreters portraying Abraham Lincoln, Mary Lincoln and Gen. Ulysses S. Grant will appear this summer at the ALPLM as part of the city-wide “History Comes Alive” program. Visitors get to meet the historic characters, chat with them about life in the past and pose for pictures.
They will appear Wednesday through Saturday each week.
The ALPLM’s music line-up includes the Lincoln Troubadours vocal group, the Springfield Municipal Band, and a string quintet performing music written especially for the museum’s new exhibit “Here I Have Lived: Home in Illinois” by Randy Erwin. A quartet from the Prairie Winds Ensemble will also perform in the Illinois Gallery. The ALPLM will continue to offer Erwin’s frequent acoustic performances of music from Lincoln’s era.
The schedule for the historic interpreters is:
Wednesdays
- General Grant: 10:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m.
- Mary Lincoln: 2:30-3:30 p.m.
- President Lincoln: 2:30-4:30 p.m.
Thursdays
- President Lincoln: 11:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Fridays
- General Grant: 11:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.
- President Lincoln: 12:30-1:30 p.m.
- Mary Lincoln: 12:30-1:30 p.m.
Saturdays
- President Lincoln: Noon-2:00 p.m.
- Mary Lincoln: 1:00-2:00 p.m.
The Lincoln Troubadours will perform in the museum’s main plaza on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays throughout the summer. The Thursday and Saturday performances are 1-1:30 p.m. The Friday performances are noon-12:30 p.m.
The string quintet will perform music from “Here I Have Lived” on:
- Saturday, July 22, 1:00 p.m.
- Sunday, July 23, 11:00 a.m.
- Saturday, July 29 1:00 p.m.
- Sunday, July 30 1:00 p.m.
- Saturday, August 5 1:00 p.m.
- Sunday, August 6 1:00 p.m.
The Prairie Winds Flute Ensemble will perform in the Illinois Gallery on:
- Saturday, July 15, 12:00 p.m.
- Friday, July 21, 11:00 a.m.
- Sunday, July 30, 11:00 a.m.
- Friday, August 4, 11:00 a.m.
- Saturday, August 5, 11:00 a.m.
The Springfield Muni Band performs outside the museum on Saturdays at 10 a.m. The band will play on July 1, 8, 15 and 29.
History Comes Alive is a party of a city-wide event through Visit Springfield Illinois. Check out more events and opportunities at www.VisitSpringfieldIllinois.com/Historycomesalive.
The ALPLM will also help provide connections to the fascinating Lincoln’s New Salem State Historic Site, near Petersburg. The presidential library’s Union Station (500 E. Madison Street) will be the departure point for a History Comes Alive shuttle taking visitors to New Salem. Every Saturday morning from June 4 through Aug. 6, the van will depart at 8:30 a.m. and return visitors to the same spot about 11:30 a.m.