Lincoln Home Historic Furnishings Report

SECTION A: DEFINITION OF INTERPRETIVE OBJECTIVES

The fundamental interpretive objective of the Lincoln Home National Historic Site is to illuminate the life and character of Abraham Lincoln during the seventeen years that he lived in the Home, rather than to represent the everyday life of the period or to recapture the setting of a single event. More specifically, the Interpretive Prospectus (October 1976) for the Lincoln Home National Historic Site identifies four Interpretive Objectives for the area:

1. To interpret the developing career of Abraham Lincoln and the events associated with that career while he lived in this house and in the Springfield community.

2. To interpret events in the life of Abraham Lincoln in this house where he lived primarily as a father, husband, citizen, and neighbor.

3. To present the Lincoln Home, the contemporary neighborhood around it, and the related historical remains in the Springfield community in such a way as to enable visitors to understand the environment of which Mr. Lincoln was a part for the 17 years that took him from the beginnings of a law practice here to the presidency.

4. To interpret Lincoln's social and political ideas, many of which were formed while he lived in this house in Springfield, and which were implemented as national policy during his presidency and left to us—a complex legacy of both national and individual ideals to which we still aspire and toward the fulfillment of which we continue to work.

The furnishing arrangements of the Lincoln Home will play an important role in contributing to the achievement of these Interpretive Objectives. The furnishings of the Home will illustrate the developing career of Abraham Lincoln in Springfield (Objective 1), the life of the Lincoln family in the Home (Objective 2), and the manner in which Lincoln's environment reflected and influenced his social and political life (Objectives 3 & 4). Therefore, it is important that the interpretive role of the furnishings be taken into consideration throughout this document.

The Home will be furnished to its appearance in 1860 as fully and accurately as available furnishings and documentation permit.