Thursday, November 12, 2009 10:03 PM CST
Library of Congress curator tasked
with keeping Lincoln documents safe
By ROB STROUD, Staff Writer
rstroud@jg-tc.com
CHARLESTON — Robert Todd Lincoln gave the Library of Congress a treasure trove of papers belonging to his father, Abraham Lincoln, but stipulated they not be opened until 21 years after his death.
John Sellers, the Lincoln curator at the library, said the documents were finally opened in 1947 with a great deal of celebration — perhaps a little too much. He said a photo of that day shows historians spreading these irreplaceable papers on a long table dotted with coffee cups and wine glasses.
“It would turn a curator’s heart. You would almost have a heart attack trying to save the documents from spilled wine or coffee,” Sellers said with a shudder as he spoke during the opening night of an Embarras Valley Film Festival that is focused on Lincoln and the Civil War.
Sellers knows the historical value of Lincoln papers because he is tasked with preserving them and helping scholars present this history to a worldwide audience. He knows the monetary value because he is also tasked with acquiring documents for the library’s collection.
The curator said the smallest notes associated with Lincoln are valued at no less than $100,000, most documents net $300,000-$350,000, and one letter recently was priced at $13 million. He later said a collection of correspondences between Lincoln and Navy Secretary Gideon Welles has been appraised at about $50 million.
“That is partly a testament of Lincoln’s appeal to the American people,” Sellers said of these monetary figures.
Sellers said people are fascinated by the fairness, forgiveness, honesty and sincerity that Lincoln displayed throughout his life. He said Lincoln, as an attorney, was known for representing widows for free and returning money if he felt he had been overpaid.
“He was not really called ‘Honest Abe’ for nothing,” Sellers said.
The fascination with Lincoln led to the library’s exhibit this year celebrating the 200th anniversary of the 16th president’s birth, drawing more visitors than any other exhibit the library has offered, Sellers said.
According to Sellers, the Library of Congress has more than 20,000 individual documents regarding Lincoln, including his beloved childhood grammar book. The book is inscribed with a final note from Lincoln, “Ann Rutledge is now studying grammar.” Rutledge, thought to be his first love, died of typhoid at age 22 in 1835.
The collection also includes a letter regarding leading Kentucky residents meeting with Lincoln, as president, to ask him to return slaves to captivity in their border state. Sellers said they were so moved by Lincoln’s eloquent refusal that they asked him to write down his words, which included, “If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong.”
“It really revealed where Lincoln was and is, and how he could touch the hearts of people,” Sellers said.
The Embarras Film Festival will continue today on EIU’s campus and on Saturday in uptown Charleston. For more information, go online to www.eiu.edu/~evff or call the Doudna Fine Arts Center at 581-3110.
Contact Rob Stroud at rstroud@jg-tc.com or 238-6861.
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