Kentucky Historical Society
Join KHS for Abraham Lincoln's Kentucky connections at the 2008 Kentucky State Fair

Frankfort, KY - The Kentucky Historical Society and its partners are proud to present some of Lincoln’s legacies at the 2008 Kentucky State Fair.

The 8,000-square-foot Lincoln experience will be housed in South Wing B of the Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville. The Kentucky State Fair runs from August 14 to August 24.

Visitors can tour the KHS HistoryMobile, featuring the exhibit “Kentucky’s Abraham Lincoln,” research Lincoln’s family history; participate in kid-friendly, hands-on activities; and enjoy performances on the nearby stage. Performances will include music, dance, demonstrations, theatre, and reenactments from the Lincoln era.

Folk Heritage Award recipients Donna and Lewis Lamb will provide music from Lincoln's era as Don and Sylvia Coffey with their friends John and Laura Penn perform vintage dances. Old-time fiddler Roger Cooper and his apprentice Michael Garvin will perform Lincoln-era music with fiddler John Harrod and his apprentice Rossi Clark. The Lexington Philharmonic brass quintet will play music from Lincoln's era, including Civil War music and popular songs of the day.

Juneteenth Legacy Theatre - Kentucky's only African American theatre company - will perform "Juneteenth Blues Cabaret," a blues tribute to legendary African American blues singers Bessie Smith, Ethel Waters, Billie Holiday, Dinah Washington, and Lena Horne.

Lincoln presenters are skilled actors who study the lives of Abraham Lincoln and his family and then bring history to life by performing these roles.  Other reenactors play the roles of Civil War soldiers, demonstrating battle tactics and technology during Lincoln’s lifetime. Historical interpreters will portray Margaret Garner, Frederick Douglas, Emilie Todd Helm, and others. Presenters will also speak on Frederick Douglass, Mary Todd Lincoln, and Henry Clay. 

Demonstrations, such as rail-splitters, reenactments, and clothing displays throughout the experience, will feature the Lincoln era and take visitors back in time.  

Educational games and a narrative stage will help bring Kentucky’s Abraham Lincoln to life for visitors. There will also be an opportunity to have your picture taken with both Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln.

“We want this to be an educational experience,” said Kent Whitworth, executive director of KHS. “We want both students and adults to leave this area with a better understanding of Kentucky’s many connections to Lincoln throughout his life. There’s no better time to learn his legacy than during the bicentennial commemoration of his birth.”

Along with the Kentucky Historical Society, organizations such as the Kentucky Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission, Kentucky Educational Television, the Kentucky Heritage Council, the Kentucky Arts Council, the Kentucky Humanities Council‘s Chautauqua characters, and the Lincoln Birthplace have joined in the effort to present Lincoln’s experience to all Kentuckians.

Kentucky’s Abraham Lincoln is free with State Fair admission and is open from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. August 14-23 and from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. on August 24.

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An agency of the Kentucky Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet, the Kentucky Historical Society, since 1836, has provided connections to the past, perspective on the present, and inspiration for the future.  KHS operates the Old State Capitol, the Kentucky Military History Museum, and its headquarters, the Thomas D. Clark Center for Kentucky History.   Since 1999, the thirty-million-dollar Center has welcomed more than one million visitors.  For more information about the Kentucky Historical Society and its programs, visit the Web site.