The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum has added nearly 500 images to its online collection of high-resolution Lincoln pictures, including photos of Lincoln’s assassin, the nation grieving Lincoln’s death and the places he lived throughout his life.
The ALPLM’s “Picturing Lincoln” collection now offers 1,485 photos, illustrations and cartoons related to America’s 16th president. The collection is hosted by the Secretary of State’s Illinois Digital Archives.
Highlights of the newly posted images include:
- Photos of assassin John Wilkes Booth and illustrations portraying him with the devil or showing him as a ghostly fugitive.
- Images of the many places Lincoln lived, from log cabins to the White House.
- Scenes related to Lincoln’s death, including photos of mourning crowds and illustrations of him in heaven with George Washington.
“Everyone everywhere should be able to dig into Abraham Lincoln’s history and his impact on the world. I’m proud of the team here at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum for working so hard to make these images available online,” said Christina Shutt, executive director of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum. “We also thank Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias for the support of the Illinois State Library.”
“Picturing Lincoln” was made possible by a $100,000 grant funded through the Illinois State Library. Several thousand other Lincoln images have already been scanned and will be added to the website over the coming months.
If there’s a thread running through the newly available images, it is the nation’s reaction to the assassination of the president. Viewers will find illustrations of Lincoln on his deathbed, ascending to heaven to take his place alongside Washington and being crowned with laurels by Liberty. Other images heap scorn on Booth. One shows him as a literal empty space defined by snakes, alligators and a grasping claw. In another, the fleeing assassin is haunted by a ghostly image of Lincoln.
Illustrations of Lincoln with Washington and haunting version of John Wilkes Booth
The illustrations and photos take viewers from Lincoln’s deathbed to his funeral to the creation of his stately tomb and trace the journey of Lincoln’s body from Washington to Springfield by rail. Others depict Lincoln’s wife and children, Washington as it looked during his presidency, and an array of Lincoln statues. Many of the added images are double photos known as “stereoviews” that created a three-dimensional effect when seen in a special viewer.
The mission of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum is to inspire civic engagement through the diverse lens of Illinois history and share with the world the life and legacy of Abraham Lincoln. We pursue this mission through a combination of rigorous scholarship and high-tech showmanship built on the bedrock of the ALPLM’s unparalleled collection of historical materials – roughly 13 million items from all eras of Illinois history.
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