Abraham Lincoln, Kentuckian.
When we first started HerKentucky, it was for the purpose of celebrating the Bluegrass State, not to tear down other states. For nearly five years, I've tried to stick to that plan. Buuutttt....
I've got a little bone to pick with Illinois.
Illinois is a perfectly lovely state. It's the home of the "world's most beautiful drive." It's the home of Superman. And Ronald Reagan. But you know what it's not? The Land of Lincoln. I don't care what their license plates say.
Abraham Lincoln was born 207 years ago today in Hodgenville, Kentucky. He married a Lexington girl.
And, he never forgot how important the Commonwealth was to his political strategy.
Here's to the birthday boy, Abraham Lincoln, the original hipster.
And don't be sad, Illinois. "Reagan's still pretty good" would look nice on a license plate.
More HerKentucky posts about Abe:
I Hope to Have God on My Side, But I Must Have Kentucky
Previewing July's My Kentucky Tee and the historical significance of a famous Lincoln quotation.
It's no secret that I LOVE My Kentucky Tee.
I wear my tees all the time, and I always get such lovely compliments on them! I'm so excited to wear the June tee for Independence Day celebrations.
What I'm really, truly excited about is the July My Kentucky Tee. I mean, how cute is this?
I've always loved that quote from Abraham Lincoln, "I hope to have God on my side, but I must have Kentucky." It sounds like a pithy exclamation of Bluegrass State pride, but it's an important history lesson. President Lincoln wasn't just invoking sentiment of love for his home state. (We've been over this before: Kentucky is the ACTUAL Land of Lincoln. You can't have him, Illinois.) He was making a policy statement about keeping border states from seceding from the Union. Kentucky's population, resources, and strategic location were invaluable to the U.S. forces during the Civil War. Losing Kentucky to the Confederacy would have been a tremendous blow. What a great reminder of Kentucky's vital role in the Civil War, and our amazing heritage!
“I think to lose Kentucky is nearly the same as to lose the whole game. Kentucky gone, we can not hold Missouri, nor, as I think, Maryland. These all against us, and the job on our hands is too large for us.
”
Remember, sign up for the July Tee by July First, and you'll get the Starter "1792" shirt as well as the Lincoln shirt in your mailbox in early July. The subscription is only $15/month; you can learn more here!
(Thanks to My Kentucky Tee for continued sponsorship of HerKentucky!)
Searching for Mary Todd Lincoln
Lexington's Mary Todd Lincoln House holds the key to the First Lady's personality.
When Sally Field was preparing for her role as Mary Todd Lincoln in the recent Lincoln biopic, the dynamic actress insisted on two trips to the historic Lexington home that bears Mrs. Lincoln's name --one tour of the house to capture the essence of the woman whom she was to portray, and one visit for her CBS Sunday Morning interview about the film.
Now, I've probably driven past the Mary Todd Lincoln house a hundred times in my life. The truth is, when you spend a lot of years studying and working in Downtown Lexington, you don't always give a whole lot of thought to the historic buildings. After a while, they all run together. The Hunt-Morgan House. Ashland. The Mary Todd Lincoln House. They all carry the names of Lexingtonians of eras past. They reflect the architecture and fashions of their era. But, when you've used Gratz Park for outdoor undergrad classes or quick runs with the dogs and the Thomas Morgan House is a place where you performed your alumna duty of serving punch at sorority rush parties, you haven't always taken the time to read the historical markers or undertake the tours. While I always knew that the Mary Todd Lincoln House was the home of our nation's Sixteenth First Lady, I've never taken time to visit it. It's just part of the downtown landscape, like Old Morrison or the 5/3 Building.
My friend and fellow "obsessive Kentuckian", Sarah Stewart Holland, wrote an essay here on HerKentucky about the moment when, while reading Doris Kearns Goodwin's Team of Rivals, she first saw Lincoln as an empathetic and very human man rather than as a historically exalted leader. As I read Sarah's piece, I immediately thought of all the press surrounding Ms. Field's visits to Lexington. I did a little research about the Mary Todd Lincoln House and realized that, perhaps, Ms. Field was onto something. Maybe the home where Mrs. Lincoln spent her teen years is a key to her character.
Mary's room, via Mary Todd Lincoln House.
The house located at 578 West Main, an elegant two-story 14-room brick home, was purchased by the Todds in 1832. The fashionable address -- at the time almost suburban -- reflected the family's growing prominence. Robert Todd, a businessman and politician, was the president of a local bank. Mary, the fourth of seven children, lived the life of a privileged southern belle. She attending boarding school during the week, and traveled home on the weekends. When Mr. Todd remarried, Mary disagreed with her stepmother and step-siblings. At 21, she was sent to Springfield, Illinois to live with her married sister Elizabeth. In Springfield, Mary won the affections of two promising young lawyers -- Stephen Douglas and his political rival Abraham Lincoln. Although Mary was known for her dramatic personality and disarming mood swings, her marriage to the penniless Lincoln shocked everyone back home in Lexington.
The Mary Todd Lincoln House, sitting serenely in the shadow of Rupp Arena, boasts a decidedly colorful past. Originally built as an inn, it was later converted to a private residence. It even served as the "bawdy house" where Lexington's most famous madam, Belle Brezing, first practiced her trade. In the 1970s, the house was restored (the first site restored to honor a First Lady) with many original antiques belonging to the Lincoln and Todd families. Its many -- sometimes shady -- incarnations seem a fitting tribute to a woman whose tumultuous personal life was marked with political victories and unimaginable family tragedies. The home's series of reinventions seems also to embody the very spirit of Downtown Lexington -- constantly evolving and rebuilding, with an eye toward the future and a deep respect for the city's history.
Why I'm Obsessed With Abraham Lincoln
The moment President Lincoln shifted from historical figure to real person for writer Sarah Stewart Holland
It's not because I'm a Kentuckian...well, it's sort of because I'm a Kentuckian.
I always loved Lincoln in an obligatory way. I knew he had saved the Union. I knew he had freed the slaves. I knew all the facts...including that he was BORN IN KENTUCKY. (I'm looking at you, Illinois.)
However, my interest never went beyond my interest in all historical figures. That is to say I liked him but I didn't love him. Until I read Team of Rivals.
Doris Kearns Goodwin's historical account of Lincoln's presidency and the men who filled is cabinet should be required reading for all Americans. She brilliantly takes this man - this character - out of the two-dimension story we all know and recreates the person he really was. Her central tenet being that Lincoln's strongest political asset was his incredible empathy. From the book:
"Though Lincoln's empathy was at the root of his melancholy, it would prove an enormous asset to his political career. 'His crowning gift of political diagnosis,' suggested Nicolay, 'was due to sympathy ... which gave him the power to forecast with uncanny accuracy what his opponents were likely to do."
The concept that the strength of this icon of American history was found in his sensitivities floored me. I loved the stories of him pardoning deserters and feeling a heavy sense of obligation to any citizen who crossed his threshold.
At the end of the book, with his assassination playing out in heart-wrenching detail I wept.
My husband sweetly pointed out I knew how the book ended before I started reading it.
However, I couldn't help myself. To fully appreciate the personal and political genius of Lincoln is to fully appreciate the tragedy of his death. Not to mention, I couldn't help but think how everything would have been different for the South had the Reconstruction been lead by Lincoln as opposed to his successors.
Everything I learned about Lincoln while reading that book was so inspiring my personal obsession was a foregone conclusion by the last page. Plus, realizing this man came from the same land I did made everything that much better.
~ Sarah Stewart Holland