Lincolnites celebrate Honest Abe’s birthday

LINCOLN, Neb. (COLLEN) – On Saturday at the Nebraska Museum of History, you could see history floating in the air.

“It’s a fun way to celebrate not only our city, but the 16th president,” said Ashley Anderson, the museum’s curator of education. “And especially at a time when we’re talking about American democracy and thinking about what it’s meant in the past and what it’s going to mean in the present and the future.”

Musicians belted out the sounds of the 1860s, transporting dozens of guests celebrating Abraham Lincoln’s 214th birthday, which is Sunday, back in time. People dressed in Civil War uniforms shared stories and artifacts, and children played with Lincoln Logs and ordered their top hats in honor of Honorable Abe.

For reenactor Paul Lachowetz, history is what you wear and what you read.

“It wasn’t just a character in a history book,” Lahovetz said. “There were many people who lived their lives regardless of the history around them. Many people forget about the little people. “

This history came to life in simple ways, in a reenactment of the Gettysburg Address. And then there were the heated debates about why Lincoln mattered then and still matters.

“I like to say that if we don’t understand our past, we don’t understand our present,” Anderson said. “And it’s a really great way to reflect on that and look to the future.”

The Nebraska Museum of History recently opened the Smithsonian’s traveling exhibition “American Democracy” on the third floor. This exhibit explores the political history of America from its founding to the time of Lincoln and the present.

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