Lincolns Springfield Neighborhood

When an emotional Abraham Lincoln took leave of his Springfield neighbors, never to return, his moving tribute to the town and its people reflected their profound influence on the newly elected president. His old neighborhood still stands today as a National Historic Site. The story of the life Lincoln and his family built there returns to us through the careful work of authors Bonnie E. Paull and Richard E. Hart. Journey back in time and meet this diverse but harmonious community as it participated in the business of everyday living while gradually playing a larger role on the national stage.

“Did he strike you as a rising man?” This is the question that surrounds Abraham Lincoln, the freshly minted lawyer eager to take Springfield by storm. But how can he know if he is rising or falling when so much of his character is yet to be determined including who he loves, what sort of politics he wants to engage in, and even what he believes about key issues plaguing the nation? Picking up at the end of his award-winning debut Young Lincoln, Jan Jacobi’s Lincoln in Springfield continues the saga of Abraham Lincoln’s development, as the young man becomes a young professional and politician. No longer does Lincoln grapple with his upbringing and yearn for freedom to forge his own path, now he is firmly on it—albeit on a borrowed horse and with only tenuous ideas about who exactly it is he wants to become. Follow along, from his time as a fledgling lawyer in Springfield to his first term as a Whig Congressman representing Illinois in Washington, D.C. As he argues cases, builds friendships with allies and rivals alike, marries, and begins his political career, the portrait of the presidential Lincoln will begin to emerge, though not without stumbles along the way. Though he still doesn’t quite know the answer, Lincoln in Springfield— Lincoln on his own for the first time—will begin to discern just what kind of person he is destined to be. “In this fascinating second volume, Lincoln in Springfield, Jacobi’s Lincoln matures with the town and the nation, and comes to understand that their challenges are also to be his.” —Robert Bray, author of Reading with Lincoln “Jan Jacobi’s Lincoln in Springfield is a highly readable, worthy sequel to his Young Lincoln.” —Michael Burlingame, author of Abraham Lincoln: A Life

Presenting fifty Abraham Lincoln stories--some familiar and beloved, some fresh and unexpected--Looking for Lincoln in Illinois: Lincoln's Springfield is a carefully researched, richly illustrated guide to the Looking for Lincoln Story Trail.

Winner, ISHS Superior Achievement Award, 2016 Although they inhabited different political, social, and cultural arenas, Abraham Lincoln and the pioneer generation of Latter-day Saints, or Mormons, shared the same nineteenth-century world. Bryon C. Andreasen’s Looking for Lincoln in Illinois: Lincoln and Mormon Country relates more than thirty fascinating and surprising stories that show how the lives of Lincoln and the Mormons intersected. This richly illustrated and carefully researched book expands on some of the storyboards found on the Looking for Lincoln Story Trail, from the Mormon capital of Nauvoo to the state capital of Springfield. Created by the Looking for Lincoln Heritage Coalition, this trail consists of wayside exhibits posted in sites of significance to Lincoln’s life and career across fifty-two communities in Illinois. The book’s keyed maps, historic photos, and descriptions of battles, Mormon expeditions, and events at inns, federal buildings, and even Lincoln’s first Illinois log cabin connect the stories to their physical locations. Exploring the intriguing question of whether Lincoln and Mormon founder Joseph Smith ever met, the book reveals that they traveled the same routes and likely stayed at the same inns. The book also includes colorful and engaging looks at key figures such as Brigham Young, various Mormon apostles, and more. Anyone inspired by Lincoln, as well as Mormon and Illinois history enthusiasts, will appreciate this look back at a long-past, but not forgotten, landscape.

"Two African American men, Springfield neighbors of Abraham Lincoln, were early activists in pursuing civil rights for their race. One, Jameson Jenkins, did so as a conductor on the Underground Railroad. The other, James Blanks, did so as a leader in establishing schools for Springfield's colored children. Their lives are worthy of study as examples of African American civil rights activism and leadership in mid-nineteenth century Springfield, Illinois."--p. vii; also includes biographical information on other Springfield African American Underground Railroad conductors: William K. Donnegan, Rev. Henry Brown and Aaron Dyer.

Winner of the Gustavus Myers Center Award for the Study of Human Rights in the United States! Winner of the Illinois State Historical Society Superior Achievement Award! This detailed case study of the 1908 race riot in Springfield, Illinois, which began only a few blocks from Abraham Lincoln’s family home, explores the social origins of rioting by whites against the city’s African American community after a white woman alleged that a black man had raped her. Over two days rioters wrecked black-owned businesses, burned neighborhoods to the ground, killed two black men, and injured many others. Author Roberta Senechal de la Roche draws from a wide range of sources to describe the riot, identify the rioters and their victims, and challenge previous interpretations that attribute rioting to interracial competition for jobs, housing, or political influence. Written in a direct and clear style, In Lincoln’s Shadow documents a violent explosion of racial hatred that shocked the nation and reveals the complexity of white racial attitudes in the early twentieth century.