A Visit to the Abraham Lincoln Library and Museum in Harrogate, TN

Tucked away in the mountains of East Tennessee, beneath the shadow of the Cumberland Gap, is one of the most unexpected Lincoln sites in America: the Abraham Lincoln Library & Museum at Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate, Tennessee.

The university itself has an extraordinary story. During the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln spoke with Union General Oliver Otis Howard about the fiercely loyal people of East Tennessee. Unionists there had suffered greatly for refusing to abandon the United States, even though the state of Tennessee had seceded and joined the Confederacy. Lincoln hoped that someday something meaningful could be done for the mountain people of the region.

Years later, Howard was visiting the region and remembered Lincoln's wishes for its people. He was pivotal in founding the Lincoln Memorial University as a “living memorial” to Lincoln, chartered on Lincoln’s birthday in 1897. The school was created not simply to honor Lincoln’s memory, but to bring education and opportunity to Appalachia in the spirit of the man who believed so deeply in self-improvement and perseverance.

Over time, the university began receiving Lincoln and Civil War artifacts, eventually leading to the creation of the Abraham Lincoln Library & Museum in 1977. One of the museum’s major early supporters was Colonel Harland Sanders (yes, that Colonel Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken fame), whose donation helped make the museum possible.

After a recent two-year, multimillion-dollar renovation, I was thrilled to see the museum reopened to the public, so we stopped by last week and spent almost three hours viewing one of the largest private collections of Lincoln and Civil War items anywhere in the world.

The best way I can describe it is this: it is a beautiful companion to the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library & Museum in Springfield, Illinois, yet it is also powerful enough to stand on its own. It has its own strengths in storytelling, allowing you to pass from room to room in such a natural progression that you don't realize until the very end that you've had a thorough and meaningful walk through Lincoln's life and legacy.

Whether you've been to Springfield or not, I highly recommend this museum for anyone interested in Lincoln or Civil War history. There is also an exhibit on General Oliver Otis Howard and a collection of his personal items, along with a focus on the good the university has done for its students and the region for almost 130 years.

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