NOTED LINCOLN AUTHOR PLANS FOUR DAYS OF ACTIVITY IN BLOOMINGTON-NORMAL AREA

BLOOMINGTON, IL -- Residents of the Bloomington-Normal area should know a whole lot more about Abraham Lincoln by the end of September.

 

            World-renowned Abraham Lincoln author Dr. Ronald C. White, Jr. will be the featured speaker at the David Davis Mansion Foundation Annual Community Meeting on September 22, and has scheduled appearances and tours in the area through September 25.  White is the author or editor of seven books, including The Eloquent President:  A Portrait of Lincoln Through His Words, published this year, and Lincoln's Greatest Speech:  The Second Inaugural, which was a Washington Post and San Francisco Chronicle bestseller and a New York Times Notable Book for 2002.  White is Professor of American Intellectual and Religious History at San Francisco Theological Seminary and a Fellow at the Huntington Library in San Marino, California.  He has lectured on Lincoln's eloquence at the White House, the Library of Congress, and Gettysburg.

 

            White will present "Abraham Lincoln and the Conklin Letter" at the David Davis Mansion Foundation Annual Community Meeting on Thursday, September 22 at 7 p.m. at the Second Presbyterian Church, 313 N. East Street, Bloomington.  In his presentation, White will address the evolution of Lincoln's rhetoric and explore Lincoln's growth as a leader, a communicator, and a man of deepening spiritual conviction.  The meeting is free and open to the public, and is intended to familiarize people with the David Davis Mansion Foundation, a private, not-for-profit organization that supports the special events, collections and preservation programs of the David Davis Mansion.  The Foundation operates a museum shop and sponsors various fundraising activities, including bus trips, evening tours, and special events.  Visit the Foundation's website at www.daviddavismansion.org.

 

            Friday, September 23 will feature visits to two schools and a local corporation.  White will visit Jeanie Wendt's class at Chiddix Junior High in Bloomington at 8:30 a.m., and will speak to Eighth Grade classes at Bloomington Junior High at 10:40 a.m. and 1:40 p.m.  He will be the featured speaker at the State Farm "Lunch and Learn" program at noon September 23, which is free and open to all State Farm employees.

 

            A bus tour of the northern half of the Eighth Judicial Circuit will be led by White and Lincoln historian and author Guy Fraker of Bloomington on Saturday, September 24.  The bus will leave at 8:30 a.m. from the David Davis Mansion in Bloomington, and will feature stops in Delavan, Metamora, Eureka and Carlock.  Tickets are $50 each and must be reserved by calling (309) 828-1084.  Lunch is included in the price.  Abraham Lincoln and David Davis rode the Eighth Judicial Circuit together in the mid-1800s during a time when judges and attorneys traveled to each county several times a year to hold court sessions.  Although Fraker and White will point out a few well-known Lincoln haunts, they will take visitors down back-county roads to many not-so-well-known Lincoln sites and memorials that few people know about today.  The bus tour will return to the Davis Mansion around 4:30 p.m.

 

            White will deliver two sermons and speak to the adult class at Bloomington's Second Presbyterian Church on Sunday, September 25.  The sermons during the 9 and 11 a.m. services will be on the topic, "How Do We Speak About God in Public Places?  Lincoln's Sermon on the Mount."  White will discuss "Lincoln's Meditation on the Divine Will" with the church's adult class between the two church services.  The public is invited to listen to these presentations at the church sanctuary at 313 N. East Street in Bloomington.

 

            The David Davis Mansion State Historic Site, administered by the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency (www.Illinois-History.gov), was built in 1872 for U.S. Supreme Court Justice David Davis and his wife, Sarah.  The Victorian mansion is located at 1000 E. Monroe in Bloomington, and is open for free public tours Wednesday through Sunday at 9 a.m. with the last tour leaving at 4 p.m.