21stCenturyAbe

About me:

Check out the website: 21st Century Abe.org

Abraham Lincoln, America’s 16th President, was born two hundred years ago.

Happy birthday Abe!

But why are we, in the 21st century, still obsessed with this 19th-century man? We find Abe everywhere from advertising to political punditry. What does this popular Abe have to do with the historical Abe? 21st-Century Abe has six months to tackle these questions—starting Feb.12, 2009--and we need your answers.

Contribute to our ever-growing collection of videos, photos, and words revealing the relevance of Abe today. Explore thirty Lincoln documents from the Rosenbach Museum & Library that give glimpses into Lincoln's thought processes, his views on race, his role as a celebrity, and even his humor.

Join scholar and author Douglas Wilson, co-director of the Lincoln Studies Center and respected Lincoln academic; visual artist Maira Kalman, author and illustrator of numerous children’s books and illustrator of the illustrated version of Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style; composer and rock musician Bryce Dessner, (member of the band The National); and multi-media artists Archive (Anne Walsh and Chris Kubick) as they reflect on these documents and provide their own creative interpretations.

But let's not stop there! Your responses—in words, songs, videos, photos, drawings, web links, whatever — define 21st-Century Abe. Together we'll find our Abe!