To fully embrace a historical figure like Abraham Lincoln, Anne Moseley said, you have to literally walk in his footsteps.
A prime example, said Moseley, the acting director of the Center for Lincoln Studies — which officially opens Friday — is walking into the House of Representatives at the Old State Capitol, the spot where Lincoln gave his "House Divided" speech in 1858 after he had accepted the Illinois Republican Party's nomination for U.S. senator.
"There is a presence you feel when you walk into (the Old State Capitol)," Moseley insisted. "To quote 'Hamilton,' 'It's the room where it happens.' Anyone who is passionate about Lincoln and passionate about studying his life and times, you have to come to Illinois in order to embrace Lincoln and understand him. That's how you make good scholarship."
The center, which is housed at the University of Illinois Springfield's Public Affairs Center, has a goal of getting researchers to look into Lincoln's life in central Illinois and "to discover the Lincoln we know and love," Moseley said.
This article appeared in The State Journal-Register on Feb. 10, 2021.
