The mission of the Michigan Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Committee is to provide leadership and direction for Michigan's celebration of the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birth.  It will do so by helping people appreciate how Lincoln's life relates to the lives of countless Michiganians today, serving as a clearinghouse for information about celebration activities, promoting partnerships that provide programming, and demonstrating how Michigan is forever linked to the life of Abraham Lincoln.

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• Lincoln saw the Detroit skyline in 1848, during a Great Lakes cruise that took him from Buffalo to Chicago.  On that same trip Lincoln, an amateur inventor, designed a device that he later patented after observing a boat snagged on a sandbar off Fighting Island near Boblo.

• A bronze statue of Lincoln by sculptor Charles H. Niehaus, dedicated May 30, 1900, in Hackley Park, Muskegon, Michigan Photo courtesy of Muskegon County Museum

  Eight years later, Lincoln set foot in Michigan -- for the first and last time in his life.  He spoke at a rally for the first-ever Republican presidential candidate, Charles C. Fremont, in Kalamazoo.  "In intellectual and physical structure," Lincoln told his Michigan audience, "our Southern brethren do not differ from us.  They are, like us, subject to passions, and it is only their odious institution of slavery, that makes the breach between us....  Turning to the South, we see a people who, while they boast of being free, keep their fellow beings in bondage."

• In 1860, Michigan provided greenery and unanimity to the Republican National Convention in Chicago.  The greens that adorned the stage at the convention were sent from Ludington, Michigan.  Michigan Governor Austin Blair led a Michigan delegation that strongly supported the candidacy of William Seward.  However, when it became clear that it was Lincoln's day, it was Blair who moved to nominate him unanimously.  "We martial now behind [Seward]," said Blair, "in the grand column which shall go out to battle for Lincoln."

• Blair also became one of the nation's most energetic unionists.  "Michigan is loyal to the Union, the Constitution, and the laws," he said in a speech to the legislature, "and will defend them to the uttermost; and to proffer the president of the United States, the whole military power of the State for that purpose....  Let us abide in the faith of our fathers -- 'Liberty and Union, one and inseparable, now and forever."

• Lincoln's rocking chair from Ford's Theatre the night he was assassinated, on exhibit at The Henry Ford in Dearborn, Michigan

  When Blair's troops were among the first to arrive, Lincoln reputedly exclaimed, "Thank God for Michigan!"

• "During his presidency, Lincoln signed the Morrill Land Grant Colleges Act to, "promote the liberal and practical education of the industrial classes in the several pursuits and professions in life."  Michigan Agricultural College, later renamed Michigan State University, was the nation's first land grant college.

• In 1865, Ludington, Michigan, again answered the call for greenery -- this time on a more somber occasion.  Ludington provided the evergreens that decorated President Lincoln's funeral bier in Springfield.  A bald eagle shot in Michigan -- when shooting bald eagles was still allowed -- was stuffed and sent to Chicago to top Lincoln's hearse.  Michigan's Twenty-Fourth Infantry regiment, on duty in Springfield at the time, received new uniforms to serve as the presidential honor guard at Lincoln's funeral.

• Of course, Michiganians were as shattered by the president's death as the rest of the nation.  In Grand Rapids, Mayor Comstock asked all businesses to close and be draped in mourning.  Flags in the city were flown at half staff and church bells rang for three hours.  Crepe hung on every door knob in the city -- traditionally a symbol of death in the family.
  
• Since that time, numerous statues of Lincoln have been erected in Michigan, and numerous towns and schools have been named for him.

• To increase knowledge and awareness of Abraham Lincoln in the United States and abroad;
• Encourage public participation and attendance at Lincoln bicentennial activities and institutions;
• Increase historical literacy about Abraham Lincoln for the nation's youth;
• Encourage research, scholarship, and increased understanding about Abraham Lincoln;
• Leverage the bicentennial for discussion of the celebration's themes of freedom, democracy and equal opportunity, and to serve as a catalyst for conversation and engagement of diverse perspectives;
• Create a lasting legacy of Abraham Lincoln Themes and contributions to endure beyond the bicentennial celebration calendar.

The Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commemoration will launch in February 2008 and continue through February 2010.  The main event will take place on February 12, 2009, the 200th anniversary of Lincoln's birth.  Across the United States, people have already begun planning parades, performances, art exhibitions, and lecture series dedicated to the legacy of our 16th president.

The U.S. Congress passed the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission Act in 2000, creating the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission (ALBC) "to study and recommend to Congress the most appropriate Government activities that may be carried out to honor Abraham Lincoln on the bicentennial anniversary of his birth."  Governors across the Union were invited to appoint a state liaison to the ALBC Governor's Council, a body charged with publicizing national bicentennial programs and coordinating efforts in each state to inform the public about Abraham Lincoln's impact on our country and to honor his accomplishments.

Michigan Senate ALBC Resolution (PDF)
Michigan House ALBC Resolution (PDF)
 

Michigan Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Committee - www.milincoln.org
702 West Kalamazoo Street - P.O. Box 30738 - Lansing, MI 48909
www.michigan.gov/hal - (517) 373-2486