About The Abraham Lincoln Association

PURPOSE

The purpose of The Abraham Lincoln Association is to observe each anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln, to preserve and make more accessible the landmarks associated with his life, and actively to encourage, promote, and aid the collection and dissemination of authentic information regarding all phases of his life and career.

HISTORY

The Abraham Lincoln Association was organized in 1908 as the Lincoln Centennial Association.  It led the national celebration of Lincoln's one-hundredth birthday.  In 1925, under the leadership of Association President Logan Hay, Paul M. Angle became the Association's first executive secretary.  This appointment was the beginning of the Association's Golden years.  Paul Angle, Benjamin Thomas, Harry Pratt---names now revered by all Lincoln scholars--were remarkably productive in establishing the Association's distinguished programs of research and publication.

More on the history of The Abraham Lincoln Association: 
Thomas F. Schwartz, Defining the Study of Lincoln: The Contributions of the Abraham Lincoln  Association.

The Abraham Lincoln Association continues to uphold its tradition in the Journal of The Abraham Lincoln Association, the only journal devoted exclusively to the rich history and complex legacies of Abraham Lincoln.  The Association also hosts an annual Symposium and Banquet through which scores of famous speakers and scholars have presented new and exciting work concerning our Sixteenth President.


On February 12, 1909, the newly formed Lincoln Centennial Association led the national celebration of Lincoln's 100th birthday by sponsoring a banquet at the Illinois State Arsenal in Springfield.  Among the 758 guests were Robert Todd Lincoln and William Jennings Bryan.  Some 1,200 spectators watched from the gallery.  This event was the beginning of The Abraham Lincoln Association.

PROJECTS

The Abraham Lincoln Association has a long tradition of providing financial support to Lincoln sites and Lincoln research projects.  Highlights of some of those projects are described below:

2007-2008    Made a grant of $2,500 to the Illinois Bar Foundation as a challenge to be matched by other contributions in order to purchase a grave marker for Judge Samuel Hubbel Treat, a Lincoln friend and an important early Illinois lawyer and judge.  On June 20, 2008, the Judge's monument in Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield, Illinois, was dedicated.

2005 to present  Undertook a project of digitalizing all of the ALA publications and placing them online at the ALA website.

1985 to present    Conducted annual solicitation to support the research and publication of the Lincoln Legal Papers and the Papers of Abraham Lincoln.

1998     Began a project to place the first eight volumes of the The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln on the Web.

1997    Secured a grant for the matching funds necessary to gild the ceiling at the Lincoln Tomb with palladium.

1995    Awarded The Abraham Lincoln Association/Southern Illinois University Press Manuscript Prize to Michael Burlingame for his  An Oral History of Abraham Lincoln: John G. Nicolay’s Interviews and Essays.

1995    Awarded $5,000 to the University of Illinois Press for assistance with the publication costs of Herndon’s Informants: Letters, Interviews, and Statements about Abraham Lincoln, edited by Rodney O. Davis and Douglas L. Wilson.

1964-1970    Raised over $250,000 to purchase period furnishings for the restored Old State Capitol in Springfield, Illinois, where Lincoln delivered his famous "House Divided" speech.