Abraham Lincoln: Large Presence in a Small Town
Champaign County Courthouse exhibit

The Exhibit:

The interpretive material of the Courthouse exhibit will include a re-creation of an 1840s-1850s courtroom within a 15’ x 11’ space with one open wall. Projected holograms or museum-quality figures representing various locally significant characters will populate the room; their significance will be explained by interpretive panels mounted within the foyer. The panels will include personal narratives, photographs, drawings, and maps. Visitors may take on the role of the jury and hear the words of Lincoln, the judge, the opposing attorney, the defendant, and other members of the court as they would have been spoken in that time. A computerized kiosk with a summary of several of Lincoln’s cases will supply details. A secured case within the foyer will hold papers from the courthouse records and county archives for view. Rotated frequently for the sake of preservation, these items may include local original newspaper items about Lincoln, small artifacts from the Lincoln era, and documents with Lincoln’s signature.

In close proximity to the exhibit are the jury assembly room, where juries are constituted three weeks of each month, and the Public Defender’s Office, which is open daily. As a result, the exhibit is virtually assured of consistent attendance made up of a diverse and broad public audience. In a public area of the courthouse, all courthouse visitors will have easy access to view the exhibit. The Early American Museum, with a well-established education program of its own, will work with the courthouse staff to expand existing building tours to include the exhibit.

Expected Outcomes:

The goal of this exhibit is to expand the courthouse visitor’s knowledge of Abraham Lincoln as a lawyer in Champaign County and to provide a context within the county, courthouse and legal history. After seeing the exhibit, individuals should have a much broader understanding of Abraham Lincoln as a lawyer in Champaign County.

We expect that schoolchildren, after visiting the Courthouse exhibit with their history/social studies classes, will gain a broader knowledge of all aspects of the life of our 16th president. In addition to gaining an awareness of Lincoln’s local presence, they will gain critical knowledge about the legal system and how it continues to work within today’s courthouse.