Metropolitan News-Enterprise

 

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

 

Page 3

 

Abraham Lincoln Exhibit Set to Open at Federal Courthouses

 

By a MetNews Staff Writer

 

A traveling exhibit commemorating the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s birth is set to open on Thursday in the foyer of the Edward R. Roybal Federal Building and Courthouse.

Presented by the Ninth Judicial Circuit Historical Society and the Central District of California, the exhibit was created by the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum and covers important periods and events in the 16th president’s life.

Entitled “Abraham Lincoln: Self Made in America,” the planned displays include reproduction artifacts  modeled from originals in the Presidential Library, include some of Lincoln’s favorite books; his son Tad’s toy cannon; the nameplate from his Springfield home; his stovepipe hat, which he used as a briefcase to hold important papers; a Presidential campaign banner; an axe that he used to chop wood; and the bloody gloves found in his pocket the night of his assassination.

The exhibit is open to the public during the Edward R. Roybal Federal Building and Courthouse’s operating hours, until Feb. 14, 2012. The facility, located at 255 East Temple Street in downtown Los Angeles, is normally open for business between 7.a.m. and 5 p.m., Mondays through Fridays, except court holidays.

In conjunction with the Roybal building exhibit, the nearby U.S. Courthouse—at 312 North Spring Street—is also hosting a display of six letters written by Lincoln, reproduced from the Huntington Library’s collection of the president’s writings.

These missives include an 1838 letter to a friend describing a young woman’s rebuff of his marriage proposal; an 1848 letter confirming a loan of money to his father; an 1854 letter describing a case Lincoln handled for the Illinois Central Railroad; an 1862 letter of recommendation; a comment on slavery written in 1864 for a charity auction; and an 1864 letter to General Ulysses S. Grant expressing Lincoln’s confidence.

The letters are set be on display in the Main Street lobby of the courthouse, alongside a statue of the young Lincoln by sculptor James Hansen that is permanently housed there.

This display is also available to the public during the courthouse’s normal operating hours, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding court-observed holidays.

 

Copyright 2011, Metropolitan News Company