Museum readies Abraham Lincoln exhibit

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - The Indiana State Museum has won a major campaign. It received a tremendous collection of presidential artifacts and now the pressure is on to make sure they're ready to go on display in February.

The coup is a collection of Abraham Lincoln memorabilia from the Lincoln Financial Foundation in Fort Wayne. The State Museum has everything from paper weights to pennants.

Dale Ogden, of the State Museum, said they've even got a patriotic banner that was hanging in Ford's Theater the night of President Lincoln's assassination.

Museum curators still haven't seen everything in the collection because they received it just last month.

Ogden is particularly proud of a toy that belonged to Lincoln's son, Tad.

The collection also features distasteful elements of the era.

"This is on the eve of the Civil War. They're still auctioning slaves in the county where both Lincoln and his stepmother were born," said Ogden.

Then there's the last Lincoln portrait from near the end of the war.

"The expression on his face was so much more relaxed," said Ogden.

As the museum staff prepares the exhibit, they'll also preserve artifacts that have not had proper attention.

"To make sure this stuff is still here so that 100 years from now, people can go, 'Holy cow, look at that.'," he said.