Join park staff from the Abraham Lincoln Birthplace on Monday, February 12, 2024, at 10:00 a.m. (EST) for the park’s annual wreath laying presentation and from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. (EST) for a Memorial Building lighting event recognizing the 215th birthday of Abraham Lincoln.

That evening, Christian McWhirter, a Lincoln Historian with the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, Illinois, will be speaking in the Birthplace Visitor Center auditorium starting at 6:00 p.m. (EST)

Program synopsis:  “The Most Important Subject which we as a People Can be Engaged With”: Lincoln and Self-Education.  Abraham Lincoln is widely revered as one of America’s greatest presidents but he was also one of the least formally educated. Yet he understood the value of education and pursued a lifelong practice of self-improvement. This enabled him to face the various challenges of his life and career with humility and a knowledge that there was always room to evolve. Join Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum Lincoln Historian Christian McWhirter for a discussion of Lincoln’s commitment to self-improvement and how it helped guide him through his life and America’s greatest political crisis.

The program is free.  Visitors are encouraged to bring flashlights, warm jackets, and sturdy walking shoes.

For more information on the Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park, visit the park’s website at: www.nps.gov/abli or the park’s Facebook page at https:www.facebook.com/LincolnBirthplaceNPS