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A Tour of President Lincoln’s Cottage that Almost Didn’t Happen
By Johnny Di Lascio A Tour of President Lincoln’s Cottage that Almost Didn’t Happen: President Garfield’s Final Visit to the Soldiers’ Home A month before his assassination, President Garfield visited the same cottage President Lincoln had lived in for over a year of his own presidency. He almost didn’t make it. That very morning, he unknowingly escaped a would-be assassination …
Read MoreExhibit: Lincoln’s Slippers
While Abraham Lincoln’s public image was defined by his signature stovepipe hat, his private, more casual nature is highlighted in the newest exhibit at President Lincoln’s Cottage. Meetings at the Cottage were often impromptu and informal, and Lincoln was known to greet guests while wearing carpet slippers. An original pair of Lincoln’s own slippers is on public display at President …
Read MoreHow Did Lincoln Spend His July 4ths?
By Molly Cadwell The Lincoln family spent three summers living at the Soldiers’ Home. Each time their stay included July 4th. So how did Lincoln celebrate America’s birthday each year he was president? Communications Intern Molly Cadwell looks at Lincoln’s activities on July 4th, and also poses questions for discussion. In 1861, the Lincolns originally planned to stay in …
Read MoreTop Ten Lists
To celebrate our 10 year anniversary, President Lincoln’s Cottage rolled out ten $10 deals and curated ten Top Ten lists over the past ten months (Can we say “ten” more? We were a little obsessed, we know). In case you missed them, here’s the curated Ten Top Tens! 10 Books You Should Read 10 Things Lincoln Saw on His Commute …
Read MoreTeam Lincoln: Joe Conroy
Ever wonder what it’s like to be a historical reenactor? External Communications Coordinator Jenny Phillips sat down with Joe Conroy, long-time reenactor from Phoenixville, Pennsylvania — a suburb of Philadelphia — who portrays a soldier from the 150th Pennsylvania Company K. The 150th Pennsylvania Company K, also known as the Bucktails, served as Lincoln’s guard during his residency at both …
Read MoreTop Ten Things the Lincolns Saw at the Soldiers’ Home
This year the Cottage is celebrating ten years of being open to the public. As part of #10YearsofPLC, we’re bringing you various top ten lists related to Lincoln and the Cottage. With the recent news that the Cottage is unveiling new spaces for site rentals, we’re focusing on the beautiful grounds of the Soldiers’ Home (today know as the Armed …
Read MorePreservation Update: Discoveries in the East Wing
Since the Petworth Cooperative Playgroup is using the east wing of the Cottage for a play space, we needed to remove the lead paint in the adjacent storage room. This revamp shifted our attention to the space just off the East Wing of the Cottage, not typically open to the public, and its special history. Senior Preservationist Jeff Larry explains: …
Read MorePreservation Update: A Surprise Discovery in a Window Sill
It’s fair to say that if there wasn’t a rainstorm and a slanted sill (more on that later), we wouldn’t have found these invaluable artifacts. Senior Preservationist Jeff Larry explains: Every once in a while we uncover some interesting items typically associated with the many different uses of the Cottage by the Soldiers’ Home. These two items were found the first …
Read MorePreservation Update: Happy 175th Birthday, Cottage!
In recognition of the Cottage turning 175 years old this summer our Senior Preservationist, Jeff Larry, looks back on the Cottage’s early years: In 1842, noted landscape gardener and designer Andrew Jackson Downing published Cottage Residences, a widely successful and influential book promoting Gothic Revival as an architectural style that stressed the importance of simplicity and truth in design and …
Read MoreGastronomical Abe
By Rae Katherine Eighmey and Erin Mast Along with their two youngest sons, Willie and Tad, Abraham and Mary Lincoln brought their Midwestern values, habits of charity, and penchant for personal interaction to Washington. The war-challenged city would benefit. In 1862, just over a year after Abraham Lincoln’s inauguration, reporter Noah Brooks wrote that there were “a little more than …
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