The “Abraham Lincoln: Self-Made in America” Bicentennial Tour, a mobile museum exhibit developed by the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum (ALPLM) in Springfield, Illinois, will make a week long stop at Veteran’s Memorial Hall, 211 North Main Street, in Rockford, IL beginning Monday, March 2 through Sunday, March 8, 2009, where people are encouraged to visit free of charge.  The exhibit is traveling across the United States over the next two years inspiring visitors with the story of Lincoln’s life and accomplishments.  It is the only exhibit of its type in the country.  The mobile museum uses an engaging mixture of interactive elements, graphics, facsimile documents and artifacts inside a 53-foot long, double expandable trailer to commemorate the Lincoln Bicentennial.

 “The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum’s success attracting 1.5 million visitors to Springfield in just three years has been remarkable, but many interested in the life and times of our 16th President have yet to make the trip,” said Illinois State Historian Thomas Schwartz.  “With this mobile exhibit, we are bringing the legacy of Abraham Lincoln to the people and offering visitors a taste of the experience they will have when they visit the Springfield museum.” 

“I encourage all of our citizens to visit this mobile museum detailing the life of our 16th President Abraham Lincoln”, stated Chairman Christiansen.  “We would like to extend a very special thanks to Mr. Dan Arnold for helping us to secure this historical display.  The display was most recently featured at the inauguration of President Obama and we are very lucky to be able to host this incredible exhibit in our community-during its tour of the United States”.

The exhibition examines Lincoln’s life from his poor beginnings to his ascension to the presidency and then his assassination.  Highlights include a visual recreation of Lincoln’s 1861 Farewell Address from a train car in Springfield as he left for the White House, and the award-winning “The Civil War in Four Minutes” video presentation.

The “Self-Made in America” mobile exhibit is funded in part by a grant from the Illinois Bureau of Tourism, with corporate sponsorships still being sought.  It was developed by ALPLM curators and historians working in concert with Mobility Resource Associates (www.goMRA.com), a Michigan-based leader in creating custom mobile exhibition tours.  The museum is a soybean oil-based biodiesel-powered unit which in part is being used to raise awareness of the “made-in-American clean-burning” soy oil biodiesel which is used to power this vehicle, funded by Checkoff Funds from The United Soybean Board and Illinois Soybean Association.

The exhibit debuted April 27 at the American Association of Museums Convention in Denver, and is visiting key Bicentennial events through August 2010, as well as the 2008 national political conventions, major sporting events, elementary and secondary schools, colleges, and other venues.  For up-to-the-minute tour dates and locations, additional information about the mobile exhibit, or to learn more about the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, visit www.abelincolnmuseum.org.  

Winnebago County Board Chairman Scott Christiansen along with City of Rockford Mayor Lawrence J. Morrissey; City of Rockford Director of the Mayor's Office of Tourism, Culture & Special Events Cynthia Powers Hall; Becky Genoways, President & CEO of On The Waterfront; and Scott Lewandowski, Curator of Veteran’s Memorial Hall, as well as members of the Lincoln Bicentennial Committee (Tom Johnson, Terry Dyer, Leah Nelson, Judy Barnard, Alanna Conard, and Roseann Canova) have collaborated on the presentation of the “Abraham Lincoln: Self-Made in America” Bicentennial Tour mobile museum to the citizens of Winnebago County and Northern Illinois.