The Lincoln Commemoration - April 29, 2023

Do you smell that?

That’s the world around us on fire.

Don't believe me? A recent Harvard Kennedy School poll says 52% of young Americans believe that our democracy is either “in trouble,” or “failing”.

Be a Merchant of Hope. Join us in this fight to save our democracy by donating $100. Is $100 worth saving our democracy? To save the way of life our parents and grandparents so dearly loved?

And what better person to help us than Abraham Lincoln. Help bring Lincoln back to Indiana to get the important conversations going. Words lead to ideas. Ideas lead to change. The fight to save our democracy starts right here with YOU. Help bring Abraham Lincoln to people who may otherwise never have a chance to visit a Lincoln museum in their lifetime.

So why does this matter to me? Because I want a democracy for my son Samuel when he grows up.

We start that this year, on Sat., April 29. Our nonprofit The Lincoln Special, in cooperation with Springfield’s Abraham Lincoln Presidential Foundation, will host three free commemoration events open to the public.

The daylong commemoration begins at 11 a.m. at the Indiana Statehouse, where world-renowned Lincoln presenter Fritz Klein will portray the 16th president as part of an “AMA” (Ask Me Anything) event. From the Statehouse, the event continues at the Soldiers and Sailors Monument for an honorary wreath-laying ceremony at 12 p.m., and concludes in Cambridge City Indiana for a final appearance.

“Fritz Klein is the gold standard of all Lincoln reenactors,” added Chris Allen, Executive Director of The Lincoln Special in Westfield. “We’re excited to have a friend like the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Foundation helping us.” Klein’s impeccable interpretations of Lincoln have been featured in Time Magazine, The Smithsonian Channel and The History Channel, as well as multiple C-SPAN presentations.

Here is a video from Time Magazine on Fritz Klein.

“It wasn’t just Lincoln’s body that came through here,” explained Allen. “It was everything Lincoln stood for—the Emancipation Proclamation, the 13th Amendment, and the Gettysburg Address—that came through here.”

The daylong event concludes that afternoon in Cambridge City Indiana along the same rail bed traversed by the Lincoln Funeral Train in 1865. There, President Lincoln will deliver a rendition of Lincoln’s Farewell Address, along with the “AMA” style of questions for the public.

“I know our ancestors would have given anything to give their thanks directly to President Lincoln and this is their chance, albeit through us, their descendants,” concluded Allen. “History has an echo. Our task is to make it heard.”

The Lincoln Special is an IRS-approved 501(c)3 nonprofit based in Westfield, Indiana. For more information, please visit www.tearsandiron.com.