Abraham Lincoln Birthplace Announces 2011 Memorial Building Centennial Event

Date: October 14, 2011
Contact: Gary Ferguson, 270-358-3137

HODGENVILLE -On November 14, 2011, at 1:00 P.M.EST, Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park will celebrate the centennial of the first Lincoln Memorial built to honor the nation's 16th President. A program of music and speakers designed to recapture the sentiment of the Lincoln Farm Association and a grateful nation will be presented. Renditions of "Dixie" and "My Old Kentucky Home" will be performed by the Larue County High School Band. Speeches will be presented by park Superintendent William Justice and William H. Taft re-enactor Dale Liikala of Mentor, Ohio. Mr. Liikala will present the historic dedication speech delivered by President Taft on November 9, 1911.

The Neo-Classic style Memorial Building at Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park was designed by John Russell Pope and constructed between 1909 and 1911 to enshrine the "birth cabin" of Abraham Lincoln. The cornerstone of the building was laid by President Theodore Roosevelt during a ceremony on February 12, 1909, and President William H. Taft delivered the dedication speech on November 9, 1911, to an audience of 3,000 people. Members of the Lincoln Farm Association resolved to honor and preserve the rural site near Hodgenville, Kentucky where Abraham Lincoln was born and that resolve continues today with the National Park Service.

All events at Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park are free and open to the public. For more information telephone the park at 270-358-3137 or visit the park's website at www.nps.gov/abli.