I have a confession to make. I really LOVE Abraham Lincoln. A friend recently pointed it out to me as we stood under my large red sign -“Whatever you are be a good one” – A. Lincoln and I was wearing my shirt from the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum & Library. As I absentmindedly scratched my “around the house” beaver skin stovepipe hat and thoughtfully stroked my luscious fake beard, I thought “Really? Other people notice my love for Abraham Lincoln? Why wouldn’t I KNOW how much I loved Lincoln?”
Was it because when I was between the ages of 4-6, my family lived in Springfield, IL and the Lincoln home and tomb was the go to destination whenever someone came to visit (so much so that my 3 year old sister could recite the movie)? Maybe it was the 8th grade trip to New Salem and Springfield? No, definitely the historic vacations we took, often to Civil War battle grounds. Then again, we DID watch a LOT of shows about Lincoln. I soon came to grips with the fact that I may never know the source of my fascination.
My Lincoln Connections
I will spare you a long, drawn out post on my Lincoln connections, but I wanted to share my other connections with Lincoln (I was born, raised and still live in IL, so seriously not a HUGE stretch):
- I worked for a time at Lincoln Elementary
- My BIL is from Lincoln, IL, a town boasting that they are the ONLY town in the WORLD named for Lincoln BEFORE he was president
- I have traveled to Alton, IL, to see the site of a defining Lincoln-Douglass debate
- The neighboring town is home to the Howard House, where, after Lincoln’s death and the death of THREE of her kids, Mary Todd Lincoln travelled to visit the famed spiritualist Caroline Howard
- The OTHER neighboring town is home to Bellvue Place which, at the time, was home to the INSANE asylum that Robert had his mother, Mary Todd Lincoln, committed after he put her on public TRIAL. (Of COURSE she had “erratic behavior”! She lost THREE children and sat next to her husband when he was ASSASSINATED. The building is now converted to apartments, I did NOT take a tour when looking for a new home.)
- One of the first time my son referred to a historical figure he said “George Lincington” (too cute not to include!)
So What?
While making dinner and listening to the local news, it was reported that the Chicago Monuments Project had released their list of forty-one statues under review. Among the statues on the list are George Washington (he had slaves), Ulysses S. Grant (just learned he had a slave) and FIVE statues of Abraham Lincoln (Insert Record Scratch here)! My world stopped spinning. Wait, wait, wait….Abraham Lincoln?!? In the Land of Lincoln? MY Abraham?
Surely for sure they were mistaken. Yes, I know that his views of slavery evolved over time and that he was, admittedly, ready to accept slavery if it meant holding the Union together…but….but…but.
Because the news reporter anticipated this, she included that it was because of his treatment of indigenous people in his time. (Oh. yeah. I can see that. But…Lincoln?)
This news truly threw me for a loop and I feel it totally should not have. For one, we have clearly established that I have a fondness for the 16th president. While no expert, my knowledge is probably above average. I completely expected to hear that it was because he was willing to accept slavery if it meant holding the union together. He was not perfect and clearly a man grappling with the mindsets of his time.
Secondly, over the last twenty years, I have studied and taken multiple classes about how the horrors of white history play for people of color and indigenous people. How it still affects everything today, even if it makes me uncomfortable. Little House on the Prairie is a unique first hand account, but also a learning opportunity to discuss the horrors of Manifest Destiny with my own eight year olds. I have not shied from discussing these issues.
Until this week, the gut wrenching policies towards the native people and Abraham Lincoln never connected in my brain. Maybe because I never learned it, or maybe because I CHOSE not to learn it. I never for a moment though that anyone would NOT see him as a hero.
What Does this mean for me, as an elementary teacher?
These issues are at the forefront of education right now as our country is definitely undergoing a monumental shift, or at least a rubbing of ideological plates. For me, I think that the way we teach historical figures needs to change. Does this mean a gruesome PowerPoint on the evils of slavery paired with the picture book Who Was George Washington to celebrate President’s day? Or just simply NOT teaching it because we don’t know how to present it in an age appropriate way? No, absolutely not.
Historical figures need to still be taught, but we need to introduce them first and foremost as people. People with flaws, people with ways of thinking that we might not understand or agree with, people who did some amazing things, but who also did some not so amazing things. Whether or not we believe what they did was good, or right, or just, their ideas and actions formed the country we live in today.
In our hurried and packed educational time, we can maybe find a few minutes to sit with the question of George Washington owning slaves for a little longer. Maybe a circle discussion posing a question such as “Abraham Lincoln is known and celebrated for ending slavery, but he was OK with keeping slavery if that’s what it took to save the Union. What is your thinking on this?”. This topic, and others like it are HARD, but we need to find age appropriate ways to start having the conversations, even if they are clunky and not perfect.
Resources
One of the resources in my shop is designed to be a way to start to think about Abraham Lincoln as a real person, not just a mythical historical figure. While yes, it can be fun, asking kids to answer questions like ‘What are 10 things Lincoln did that you will never do”, it will get them to start seeing Lincoln as human. Click on the link below to learn more.
