Communities, historic sites, schools, and libraries across the state have planned events and projects to commemorate the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial.
Dates and information about special events in February are listed below, and more Lincoln Bicentennial events are planned throughout the year. Visit our Calendar of Events page to find out about other events.
Hosting an event that's not listed on this page? Let us know, and we'll add it to KALBC calendar.
Saturdays in February, 1:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.: Visit the Kentucky Historical Society each Saturday in February to see the KHS Museum Theatre team's production of Abraham Lincoln's Life Through Kentucky Eyes. This readers' theatre play explores Kentuckians' diverse opinions of Lincoln and his legacy. Free with museum admission at the Thomas D. Clark Center for Kentucky History in Frankfort. Visit the Kentucky Historical Society's Web site for more information.
February 2, 2009, 7 p.m.: Our Lincoln: Kentucky's Gift to the Nation will be performed at the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Find out more information about Our Lincoln.
February 2 - 28, 2009:
Somerset - An exhibit titled "Abraham Lincoln: Icon and Enigma" created by the Abraham Lincoln Library and Museum at Lincoln Memorial University includes traditional and contemporary views of Lincoln through iconic steel engravings, woodcuts and paintings from the 19th century will be on display at the Center for Rural Development through Feb. 28.
Greenville - A Lincoln exhibit of original newspaper clippings, apintings, prints, statues and bists from the collection of State Rep. Brent Yonts will be on display at the Duncan Center Museum and Art Gallery through Feb. 28
February 4, 2009, noon: Dr. Blaine Hudson will present "African American Perspectives on Lincoln," a Brown Bag History event, at the Thomas D. Clark Center for Kentucky History in Frankfort. Find out more about upcoming programming on the Kentucky Historical Society's Calendar of Events.
February 4-8 and February 12, 2009, 8 p.m.: Abraham Lincoln and Uncle Tom in the White House, written by Carlyle Brown, directed by Lundeana Thomas, and commissioned by the African American Theatre Program at the University of Louisville will premiere at The Playhouse, 1911 S. Third St. in Louisville. Performances begin at 8 p.m. with an additional 3 p.m. matinee performance on Sunday, Feb. 8. Show tickets are $12 for the general public or $8 for U of L faculty, staff and students and senior citizens. For tickets and information, call 502-852-6814 or visit http://louisville.edu/a-s/ta/ For more information about the production and premiere, contact Dr. Thomas via email or call 502-852-8442.
February 7, 2009, 7 p.m.: The Hardin County History Museum will host Abraham Lincoln in Song, a gala event featuring singer-songwriter Chris Vallillo. This event is free and open to the public at Elizabethtown Christian Academy, 401 W. Poplar Street, Elizabethtown. Contact Christy Pritchard for more information.
February 7, 2009, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.: The Kentucky Historical Society will host a Family History Workshop on the Lincoln/Todd family lineage at the Thomas D. Clark Center for Kentucky History in Frankfort. Contact Bill Morris for more information.
February 7, 2009, 5 p.m.: Brothers of a Common Country: A Story of Abraham Lincoln, presented by State One Children's Theatre, at The Kentucky Center, Bomhard Theater. Find out more at www.stageone.org.
February 9, 2009, 12:30 p.m.: The Bowling Green Chamber Orchestra and Richardsville Elementary will present the children’s musical Lincoln: A Man for All Times at the Living Hope Baptist Church in Bowling Green. This performance is sold out but an additional performance might be added. For more information, contact Darrell Edwards via email or call him at 270-781-4918.
February 10, 2009, 7 p.m.: Hodgenville's mayor will host a free public showing of the KET video Lincoln: I, too am a Kentuckian at the Hodgenville Civic Center.
February 11, 2009, 6:30 p.m.: The Lincoln Museum and the Kentucky Repertory Theatre will present One Man's Lincoln at LaRue County High School. The performance will begin at 7:30 p.m. and is free but tickets are required as seating is limited. Tickets can be obtained by calling the Lincoln Museum in Hodgenville at 270-358-3163. Prior to the performance, the Lincoln Museum will sponsor a dinner beginning at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $12.50 and can be obtained at the Lincoln Museum.
February 12, 2009
Kentucky students will utilize Kentucky Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission learning materials. Find suggestions for children's programming here.
Hodgenville Events
9 a.m.: Flag raising and annual wreath-laying ceremony in downtown Hodgenville.
10 a.m.: The U.S. Mint will unveil its Kentucky Lincoln penny design, and the Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Site will host a penny exchange at LaRue County High School.
12 noon: The Annual Lincoln Days Luncheon will take place at Abraham Lincoln Elementary School.
Lexington: Lincoln's Birthday Tea will be served at 11:30 a.m. at The Arboretum in Lexington. The cost is $25 per person and the proceeds will benefit the children;s garded at the arboretum.
Owensboro: Lincoln in the Land of Bluegrass musical will be presented at 7 p.m. at RiverPark Center's Cannon hall.
February 12-14, 2009: A three-day Lincoln Symposium in Danville at Centre College will culminate with an all-day conference on Saturday, Feb. 14 about Lincoln and African American History sponsored by the Kentucky African American Heritage Commission.
February 13, 2009, 12:30 p.m.: Lincoln the Decision Maker will be presented by the University of Kentucky Opera Theatre at the Singletary Center for the Arts. The performance will include excerpts from The River of Time, a new opera about Lincoln composed by Everett McCorvey.
February 14, 2009, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.: Family Fun Day, sponsored by the Kentucky Historical Society, includes a visit by Clifford the Big Red Dog, Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln presenters, the Berea Folk Dancers, and other Lincoln-related family activities. For more information, contact Erica Harvey.
February 16, 2009: Historian Michael Burlingame, author of Abraham Lincoln: A Life, speaks at the Thomas D. Clark Center for Kentucky History in Frankfort. Author James Swanson, in his review of the book, calls Burlingame "A distinguished scholar who probably knows more about Abraham Lincoln and his world than anyone else alive." Tickets to this event, which includes Burlingame's talk, dinner, and a book signing, are $35 for members, $25 for students, and $45 for all other patrons, and seating is very limited. Contact Julia Curry to reserve your seats.
7:30 p.m. Historian Richard Norton Smith will give the 2009 Kenan Lecture, "Our Lincoln," at Transylvania University in Lexington in Haggin Auditorium.
February 19, 2009, 7 p.m.: Dr. John David Smith, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, will speak about Lincoln and black troops during the Civil War at Murray State University in Curd Auditorium.
February 21, 2009:
Crestview Hills - Dr. James Ramage, professor of history at Northern Kentucky University, will lecture on "Lincoln as a Public Speaker" in the Science Lecture Hall at Thomas More College in Crestview Hills at 7 p.m.
Jessamine County - Lincoln and Liberty: Music and Lecture program will be held at Camp Nelson Civil War Heritage Park on US27 south of Nicholasville beginning at 3 p.m. The program will include musical preentations of some of Lincoln's favorite songs as well as a talk by Dr. J. Blaine Hudson on "Kentucky, Emancipation and the Civil War."
February 22, 2009, 3 p.m.: The Central Kentucky Concert Band will present its 33rd Annual Spring Concert in the Haggin Auditorium in the Mitchell Fine Arts Center on the campus of Transylvania University. The theme for the free concert is Mr. Lincoln's Kentucky.
February 24, 2009, 7 p.m.: African-American Perspectives on Lincoln will be the topic of the lecture by Dr. J. Blaine Hudson at 7 p.m. in the SSB O'Donnell Hall at Eastern Kentucky University in Richmond.