The Official Bicentennial Kick-Off
February 11 – 12, 2008
“I, too, am a Kentuckian.”
Abraham Lincoln, 1861
The Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial kicked off with two days of inaugural events in Kentucky, where President Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809.
February 11, 2008
Louisville
- ‘Lincoln on Leadership’ Symposium
Acclaimed historian and Pulitzer Prize winning author, Doris Kearns Goodwin was the keynote speaker. Dr. Goodwin, author of Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln, discussed Abraham Lincoln’s leadership qualities.
- Champagne Reception and A Kentucky Salute to Abraham Lincoln
Kentucky Center
Louisville, Kentucky
Champagne Reception
Program sponsors, invited guests, dignitaries and preferred ticket holders gathered in the lobby of the Kentucky Center for a festive champagne reception.
A Kentucky Salute to Abraham Lincoln
Bob Edwards, award-winning journalist and Louisville native, served as master of ceremonies for the evening. The Louisville Orchestra, joined by soprano Angela Brown as guest soloist, offered a musical tribute, including the premiere of a new Lincoln work - Lincoln at Ease - composed by Peter Schickele. Artists from the Kentucky Opera will accompany Ms. Brown.
Award-winning actor Sam Waterston and Lincoln scholar Harold Holzer performed their acclaimed production Lincoln Seen and Heard, a narrated and dramatic presentation of Lincoln’s life.
You can see the complete program from Kentucky's Salute to Abraham Lincoln, click here.
February 12, 2008
Hodgenville
Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Inaugural Ceremony
Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Site
Due to an overnight ice storm, the inaugural ceremony at the Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Site had to be canceled. First Lady Laura Bush had been scheduled to deliver the keynote address formally launching the nation’s two-year celebration of Lincoln’s life and legacy. Saxton’s Cornet Band and Everett McCorvey and the American Spiritual Ensemble was to provide music. Other scheduled speakers included: Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne, and Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear. Sam Waterston, star of TV’s Law and Order, was set to narrate the Gettysburg Address. LaRue County Judge Executive and national ALBC Commissioner Tommy Turner was to serve as the master of ceremonies.
