Lincoln And Loss Focus Of New Exhibit

This week marks the 206th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s birth, as a new exhibit at the Indiana State Museum examines his death.  

The exhibition “So Costly a Sacrifice: Lincoln and Loss” delves into the assassination of President Lincoln and how his demise, as well as those of the 620,000 Civil War soldiers, changed the way people in American dealt with death.

Dale Ogden, chief curator of cultural history at the Indiana State Museum, was on 90.1 WFYI’s No Limits in January and says Lincoln’s murder was a shock to the country’s system.

"Suddenly you have the President of the United States assassinated, the first time in American history that had happened, so then you have a whole new set of circumstances," Ogden said.

The sesquicentennial anniversary of Lincoln’s assassination is in April, and the museum wanted to present an original exhibit using the Lincoln Financial Foundation Collection that it acquired in 2008.

Susannah Koerber, ‎vice president of collections and interpretation says the museum wants to keep the collection accessible. 

"We've committed to every two to three years, to do a major exhibition that uses that collection and uses it in relation to other materials," Koerber said.

The exhibit features fringe from Lincoln’s casket, memorial prints, photos and letters.  The exhibition will run through July 5.