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America's New Birth of Freedom: Documents from the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum

January 16, 2009 - March 29, 2009 (new closing date)

Museum: American History Museum

Location: Albert Small Documents Gallery, 2nd Floor, East Wing

To celebrate Abraham Lincoln's 200th birthday, the museum hosts 10 rare and important documents from the Springfield library and museum. The display includes a signed copy of the Emancipation Proclamation and letters expressing Lincoln's views towards emancipation and the conclusion of the Civil War. Included in the exhibition is Lincoln's letter to long-time friend James C. Conkling in which he makes his forceful defense of the Emancipation Proclamation and his letter to Francis Blair, Lincoln's unofficial conduit to Confederate President Jefferson Davis, on his unwavering demands for peace.

See related article on Lincoln in September 2008 Smithsonian magazine, pp.61-66.

Online Exhibition