Tue–Fri 9 a.m.–4 p.m. · Sat 1–4 p.m.

Holidays excepted — please call (217) 735-7399 to confirm before you travel.

Lincoln Heritage Museum Lincoln, Illinois
An 1860 campaign exhibit with hand-painted banners, portraits and a Wide Awakes sign.

Home/Exhibits & Collections

Exhibits & collections

Rare, original,
and close at hand.

Over one hundred items created by, owned by, or associated with Abraham Lincoln, his family and his colleagues are on display every day.

Located on the campus of the only college named for Lincoln in his lifetime, the Lincoln Heritage Museum exhibits a rare and valuable collection of artifacts that tell the story of the life and times of Abraham Lincoln. The museum promotes research and educational activities, encourages the development of path-breaking scholarship, and reaches a broad audience through programs and publications.

A framed print and a case of Mary Lincoln's jewelry from the special exhibit.
Items owned by Mary Lincoln and the Lincoln family.

Now on display

Clouds and Darkness Surround Us

The ill-fated life of Mary Lincoln.

The special exhibit highlights the misunderstood life of Mary Lincoln and features many items owned by Mrs. Lincoln and the Lincoln family — a lock of Abraham Lincoln’s hair, Mary Lincoln’s jewelry, her mourning fan and handbag, and a dinner bell from the Lincoln home in Springfield, among other objects.

Plan a visit

Mary Lincoln's gold and enamel cufflinks on a display pedestal.
A black lace mourning fan in a case.
A bronze bust of Abraham Lincoln in the gallery.
An oval campaign print titled The Nation's Choice showing a beardless Lincoln.
A handwritten nineteenth-century letter in ink.

The Hawes family letters

Four years of war, in their own hand.

One hundred and twelve letters, written home between 1861 and 1865 by three young men who did not know how the story ended.

Brothers Henry and George Hawes and their half-brother James Ewing all served in the Civil War, and all three wrote back to their parents, John and Esther, and to family at home. They wrote candidly and vividly about the politics of the day — Union war policy, southern secession, Abraham Lincoln and emancipation, his re-election, and finally his assassination. The collection was donated to the museum by James and Joanne Hawes.

The letters became Our Cause Is Just, a documentary the museum produced with Lincoln College students and LCTV, which was named a “Best of Illinois History” award winner by the Illinois State Historical Society.

Ask about the Hawes collection

The holdings

Four collections, one story.

An exhibit panel titled Headquarters in Springfield displayed beside a period artifact.

Core collection

The Lincoln Collection

Over one hundred items are on display every day; the remainder — the premier collection of Lincoln manuscripts, family and friends’ possessions, published works, and fine or popular art depicting Lincoln — is safeguarded in the museum vault.

  • Original letters and manuscripts written or signed by Lincoln
  • Books and pamphlets on every aspect of his life
  • Tad Lincoln’s rocking chair, locks of family hair, the “Mortality Poem” in Lincoln’s own hand, Mary Lincoln’s gloves
  • Robert Lincoln (1843–1926) family items
  • Lincoln-related prints and photographs
  • Civil War broadsides and political cartoons

The collection began in the 1940s with a gift from Lincoln College alumnus Judge Lawrence Stringer, and grew through Logan County lawyer John Gehlbach, Robert Todd Lincoln Beckwith — the last descendant of the Lincoln family — and former Illinois State Historian Jim Hickey.

A signed presidential photograph from the Letters from the Presidents collection.

Hall of Presidents

Letters from the Presidents

In 1955, Mr. and Mrs. Philip Sang gave the museum letters and documents from most of the presidents of the United States up to that time, along with a significant number of signatures and letters from the first ladies. Their gift became the catalyst for the museum’s Hall of Presidents, and the museum has continued to acquire letters from subsequent presidents and first ladies since.

Holdings: letters from the presidents and their wives, George Washington through Donald Trump.

A historic black and white photograph of University Hall at Lincoln University.

Institutional history

Lincoln College Archives

Chartered as Lincoln University in 1865, the college was the only one named for Abraham Lincoln during his lifetime. The archive holds diplomas dating to 1900, faculty notes from the founding of the college, catalogs, handbooks, yearbooks, commencement programs, the founding papers of Lincoln University, and photographs starting as early as 1868. Named holdings include the papers of Archelelaus Turner, an 1881 alumnus who later served as the college’s president; the Ed Madigan Collection; programs from the Athenian Society and the Lincoln University Conservatory of Music; and the college’s own publications — Imprint, Echoes, the Lincolnite, The Log and the Lincolnian.

A researcher working with documents at a table in the library.

For researchers

Research appointments

The Lincoln Collection, the Letters from the Presidents collection and the Lincoln College Archives are available to researchers by appointment only, Monday through Friday.

To arrange access, contact the museum with a short description of your research and the materials you would like to consult.

Request an appointment   (217) 735-7399