With the birthdays of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln coming up this month, an “America 250”-themed display has been set up in the Local History Room at the Pekin Public Library that highlights the major historic accomplishments of the 16th U.S. president, Abraham Lincoln. Exhibited are facsimile reproductions of his Gettysburg Address, the Emancipation Proclamation, his Second Inaugural Address, and his letter to Mrs. Bixby offering condolences on the deaths of her sons during the Civil War.
Also on display are reproductions of two legal documents from the Tazewell County Courthouse, from cases in which Abraham Lincoln was involved here in Tazewell County during his time as a prairie lawyer in the old Eighth Judicial Circuit. Lincoln’s legal profession regularly brought him to Tremont and Pekin in the years before his election as U.S. president.
Documents and images from Pekin’s celebration of the U.S. Bicentennial in 1976 also remain on display in the Local History Room.
