Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum — Attraction in Springfield

Our family of 6 (with 4 kids ages 13, 10, 7 and 5) spent over four hours at the Lincoln Presidential Museum. The caliber of interactive displays was astounding and the two hologram movies that they showed truly amazed us (some of us even opted to watch one of them a second time). A highlight was seeing one of the three remaining hats that Lincoln owned on display. The brim was worn thin in two distinct places where his fingers gripped it to tip to passers by and the inner band was stretched (mostly likely from storing speeches and notes inside).

Many things were new to me as we toured the museum. I was shocked to learn that Lincoln let his kids run amuck playing games with the ink wells and stacking books into towers before playing atop them while he sat idly by. Outside of the White House, I never realized the amount of mixed support and outright opposition that Abe was up against during his time in office especially from the media. Most felt he was either not doing enough to end slavery or pushing the issue of emancipation too far, too fast. It was not until after his assassination that people truly came together in support and admiration of his leadership. Also new to me was the realization that his second son to die did so while Abe was living in the White House, one year after the Civil War began. I cannot fathom the weight of grief that laid upon Abraham at this time in his life. That said, the number of tragedies that Mary, his wife endured was beyond imaginable. After losing two of her sons, her husband was shot and six years later a third son died. It’s quite honestly beyond my comprehension.

Our entire family was completely impressed by this museum. We opted to purchase the annual family pass for around $85 which will allow us to use the Time Travelers Passport granting a free or discounted admission to many other places we may visit as part of a reciprocal relationship. We parked in the nearly library parking lot for $0.75/hour. Plan to stay at least 3-4 hours (we stayed about 4.5). Also note: Lincoln's home is a short distance away in case you wish to visit...

This is the best museum I can remember ever visiting. Every exhibit is very well done and has a variety of ways of displaying the information (plaques to read, audio info, videos, etc). It’s really easy to leave from there feeling that you really got to know Lincoln as a person and as a President. I liked that they included the negatives about him and his life, rather than just the glowing positives, as you got to know what he might have actually been like, as a human. We started out in the Research Library with just a quick walk around the main lobby, as we were informed that most of that building is a working research library, and not open to the public without permits. The security guard that greeted us at the door, Len Jackson, was so kind and professional. He was also very enthusiastic about his love for the museum and highly recommended we start our museum visit by watching the “ghost film”. I am so glad we met Len! Our time was limited at the museum, and we usually skip the movies in those scenarios, but the “ghost film” (first film to the right as you enter the museum) was well worth the ten minutes. It was fascinating and had fun special effects. I would also highly recommend this one for children and teens as it emphasizes why it’s important to learn history. I can’t say enough good things about this museum. The staff were all friendly and helpful. The building itself is classy, pristine, and beautiful. The “Journey 1” and the “Journey 2” areas of the museum were so well done. I wish we had had more time to really explore every exhibit....

This entire museum is amazing but my review is mostly of the Ghosts of the Library theatre show. BRC Imagination Arts have really outdone themselves with this installation of Holavision. This show absolutely blew my mind in a pretty profound way 🤯 . The sights and sounds all seemed so realistic but in a truly magical manner. It took me a while to sort out how it all works but here is an overview for the curious.

If you haven't seen the show yet, please stop what you are doing and plan your trip NOW. It's worth it. If you have seen the show and are searching for answers to how this show works, here is my best guess.

• SPOILERS AHEAD *

There is a live actor on stage lip-syncing to a pre-recorded audio track. The actor interacts with various holograms produced via dielectric beam-splitter glass placed at a 45 deg angle, a very modern version of "Pepper's Ghost". At some point, the actor steps off-stage while we are distracted by a war-torn flag on the opposite side of the stage. Once the actor appears back into view, he is no longer a real person, but instead; a projection using the same hologram technology used for the other stage illusions. At the end of the show, when the actor fades from view, this is possible only b/c he was a projection from the point of starting to put on the coat. The rest of the library scene seems to fade from view as the battlefield scene emerges, by dimming the lights on the real library stage and expanding the scope of the hologram to cover the entire stage as the battlefield digitally...