Abraham Lincoln Birthplace Bicentennial SHIRTS still available.

Go to Lincoln Bicentennial store and search on "shirts".

• Coming Soon - The Abraham Lincoln Wiki - Show your historian chops and be a part of creating the official Lincoln Wiki with color photos.

  ---

Lincoln Bicentennial Commission Gala

Join the National Opening Celebration for the Lincoln Bicentennial in Kentucky, February 11 and 12, 2008.

The Official Bicentennial Kick-Off - February 11 – 12, 2008

February 11, 2008 - Louisville, KY

1:00 – 3:30pm Lincoln on Leadership’ Symposium

• Location: Frazier International History Museum, Louisville
• Sponsors: ALBC, McConnell Center at the University of Louisville, and the Frazier International History Museum
• The featured speaker will be acclaimed historian and Pulitzer Prize winning author, Doris Kearns Goodwin.
  

6:00 - 7:15 pm - Champagne Reception

Pictures & Review of event at: http://www.lincolnbicentennialus.com/

A Kentucky Salute to Abraham Lincoln - Kentucky Center lobby- Louisville, Kentucky

• The University of Louisville Marching Band will perform patriotic music.
• Hors d’oeuvres will be served that are reminiscent of the period of Lincoln’s Inauguration.

7:30 - 9:30 pm - A Kentucky Salute to Abraham Lincoln

• The Louisville Orchestra, joined by soprano Angela Brown as guest soloist, will offer a musical tribute, including the premiere of a new Lincoln work - Lincoln at Ease - composed by Peter Schickele and a performance by Ms. Brown of Marian Anderson’s 1939 rendition of My Country ‘Tis of Thee. Artists from the Kentucky Opera will accompany Ms. Brown.
• Capping the evening, award-winning actor Sam Waterston and Lincoln scholar Harold Holzer performed the acclaimed production Lincoln Seen and Heard, a narrated and dramatic presentation of Lincoln’s life.

CANCELLED - February 12, 2008 - Hodgenville, KY -

Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Inaugural Event
Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Site - 10:30am – 12:00 noon.

• First Lady Laura . Bush was scheduled to deliver the keynote address formally launching the nation’s two-year celebration of Lincoln’s life and legacy.
• Saxton’s Cornet Band and Everett McCorvey and the American Spiritual Ensemble will provide music.
• Other speakers will include: Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne (invited), Doris Kearns Goodwin and Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear. Sam Waterston, star of TV’s Law and Order, will read from Lincoln’s works. LaRue County Judge Executive and national ALBC Commissioner Tommy Turner will serve as the master of ceremonies.
• The Opening Ceremony at the Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Site
  The event is free, and open to the public. Reservations are not required for the general admission standing areas. Admission is on a first come first, served basis. Visitors are encouraged to arrive early. Additional information on the event is available online from the National Park Service at http://www.nps.gov/abli/

"VIRTUAL HODGENVILLE" TO TRUMP MOTHER NATURE

WASHINGTON: Icy roads forced the cancellation of the formal inaugural ceremony of the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial on February 12th at the 16th president's Kentucky birthplace, but technology will one-up Mother Nature. A 'virtual Hodgenville' to be launched next week will allow visitors to the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission's Web site (www.abrahamlincoln200.org) to hear the music and read the speeches weather temporarily silenced.

"We all thought Mother Nature had ruined months of hard work," said LaRue County Judge Tommy Turner, a member of the national ALBC and co-chair of the Kentucky ALBC. "Certainly, everyone was terribly disappointed, but through the marvels of the Web, though, the show will go on!"

"Virtual Hodgenville" will appear on the ALBC Web site on March 4. Visitors will be able to read the remarks of the scheduled speakers and listen to the music that had been planned for the ceremony. Photos, video and audio will be added as it becomes available.

First Lady Laura Bush had been scheduled to deliver the keynote address. Other speakers included Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne, Judge Turner, ALBC co-chair Harold Holzer, and U.S. Rep. Ron Lewis (R-KY). Award winning actor Sam Waterston was set to narrate the Gettysburg Address.

Period and patriotic music by Saxton's Cornet Band and the American Spiritual Ensemble was also planned. Acclaimed soprano Angela Brown Was scheduled to perform; selections from her collection Mosaic will be available on the "Virtual Hodgenville."

"We are only at the beginning of our two-year celebration of the Bicentennial," said Judge Turner. Just as our community and Kentucky were a critical part of Abraham Lincoln's life, I expect them to remain important throughout the Bicentennial."

THE LINCOLN PENNY

Starting next year, the new 2007 Presidential $1 Dollar Coin will bear the likeness of Abraham Lincoln to coincide with the Lincoln Bicentennial. In addition, there will be a redesign of the Lincoln penny.

First, his birth and childhood in Kentucky followed by the formative years in Indiana. The third design expresses a scene from the Lincoln Illinois professional life followed by the 16th presidency in Washington.

The U.S. Mint will sell collectible versions of the cent coins with the same copper content as the penny minted in 1909. In 2010 & beyond the Lincoln cent reverse will continue to be redesigned to show Lincoln's preservation of the United States as a single and united country