Exhibits
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Museum | Library | Union Station | Exterior | Online Exhibits | Upcoming Exhibits
Museum
The plaza, shown above, is where your visit begins and concludes –it is the hub of the Museum. The Plaza allows our visitors to explore and return to reflect. Lifelike figures of the Lincoln family greet visitors in the Plaza with the White House as a backdrop for a great photo op before taking your own journey through the life and times of Abraham Lincoln.
Journey 1
Explore Abraham Lincoln’s early life from his boyhood in a Kentucky cabin through his 1860 campaign for President of the United States.
Learn more about Journey 1
Journey 2
Abraham Lincoln achieved what many men only dreamed of when he won the presidency in 1860. But the country was in crisis—the Civil War would begin just weeks after his inauguration, and Lincoln would wrestle with the human toll of battle and of slavery. Family tragedy struck as well, with the death of son Willie in 1862. Cruel personal and political attacks that greeted the Lincolns when they arrived in Washington, D.C., gave way to an outpouring of grief following his assassination on April 14, 1865. Somber scenes of mourning give way to consideration of Lincoln’s powerful hold on Americans.
Learn more about Journey 2
Illinois Gallery
The Illinois Gallery is home to our temporary exhibits, which are traditionally changed annually. Our next exhibit, State of Sound: A World of Music form Illinois, is coming soon!
Learn more about Illinois Gallery
Union Theater
Union Theater is home to the ALPLM’s popular show Lincoln’s Eyes, which reflects upon President Lincoln’s life and legacy.
Learn more about Union Theater
Ghosts of the Library
Learn more about the roles and work of research libraries during this show in our Holavision® theater, which answers the question, “Why save all this old stuff?”.
Learn more about Ghosts of the Library
The Mr. Lincoln Theater
Celebrate our 15th Anniversary with a special mini-theater experience in The Mr. Lincoln Theater. Features from the creators and designers of the institution as well as construction time-lapse segments as well as highlights of our programs, shows, exhibits, and events will provide a unique context for this retrospective.
Learn more about The Mr. Lincoln Theater
Library
While researchers could spend a lifetime working here to discover more about Lincoln’s life and legacy, many of our Museum guests find they spend only a small portion of their time in the Library. However, you will not want to miss these exhibits housed in the Library!
Lincoln’s Life in Letters
At its heart, the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum is a showcase for the millions of items housed in its collection devoted to Illinois history and Abraham Lincoln. On any given day, at least 100 of those items are on display. Included in the collection are more than 1,600 documents in Lincoln’s hand. We invite you to explore Lincoln’s life through some of the documents that shaped our museum exhibits and the stories they tell. Coming Soon!
Learn more about Lincoln’s Life in Letters
The Stevenson Room
The Stevenson Room is an interpretive, multi-purpose space featuring six large artifact cases to showcase materials recently donated from the Stevenson family.
Learn more about The Stevenson Room
Union Station
Historic building across the street from the library.
Union Station
Union Station was opened in 1898 by the Illinois Central Railroad and the last passenger train left Union Station on April 30, 1971. The station is designed in the Romanesque Revival style, which is evident in its decorative stone and brickwork, strong geometric form, and soaring clock tower. This building is not currently open to the public, but it provides a beautiful backdrop for pictures and a picnic lunch.
Learn more about Union Station
Exterior
Lincoln Bench
This life-size reproduction of Lincoln was donated to the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in honor of the Siciliano Construction Company workers who built the museum and library.
Learn more about Lincoln Bench
Online Exhibits
WWII
An online interactive exhibit experience from our previously displayed, in-house created exhibit, In This Great Struggle: The Greatest Generation Remembers WWII.
Learn more about WWII
Upcoming Exhibits
Stories of Survival: Object - Image - Memory
A new travelling exhibition from the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center reflects upon the individual stories of 59 Survivors of the Holocaust and genocides and conflicts including Armenia, Bosnia, Cambodia, Iraq and Syria, Rwanda, and South Sudan, told through objects, photographs and personal reflections.
Learn more about Stories of Survival: Object - Image - Memory