Peter Stevens: Abraham Lincoln Exhibit
Abraham Lincoln
Four years president: 1861 to 1865. Assassinated 42 days after his second inauguration.
Though born in Kentucky, a slave state, he abolished slavery, declaring that “all men are created equal. If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong.”
He was the first US president to support voting rights for all African Americans. It was for this that he was assassinated.
In his words: “Both parties deprecated war, but one of them would make war rather than to let the nation survive, and the other would accept war rather than to let it perish, and the war came. Both read the same Bible and pray to the same god, and each invokes His aid against the other.”
His job was to both lead the government and fight the war. For that he earned his spot on the five dollar bill.
Some scientists in quantum mechanics would say it is likely that you now hold particles from Lincoln that help you see him in these pictures.
What a world this is. How luck we are to be here.
-Peter Stevens
The exhibit is open during regular Madison Library hours in the downstairs John F. Chick Room through the month of May 2025.
The library’s Chick Room has exhibit space for hanging artwork, and two-month-long art shows featuring local artists are planned throughout the year. Artists interested in exhibiting at the library are invited to review our Artistic Display Policy and Agreement, and contact us to arrange an exhibit time.
We are always looking for artists interested in displaying their work for two-month blocks.