Walking in the footsteps of the late President Abraham Lincoln

By Jacey Janz, a 2009 senior at Mellen High School, Mellen, Wisconsin

My first glimpse of Abraham Lincoln was at Mount Rushmore in the Black Hills of South Dakota. I stared 500 feet up to a 60-foot face carved out of a granite mountain. Lincoln shares this famous stone mountain with 3 other presidents representing the first 150 years of American History.

President Lincoln is revered for his ideas on equality and the permanent union of the states. Since Mount Rushmore, I have been various other places honoring this man. At Gettysburg, I walked the hallowed fields and streets, and stood in the very spot where Abraham Lincoln delivered his famous Gettysburg Address at the dedication of the Soldiers’ National Cemetery on November 19, 1863.

I’ve walked the National Mall in Washington D.C. and ascended the many steps to stand by the 19 foot, larger-than-life marble statue of Abraham Lincoln that was dedicated to him on May 30, 1922. The Great Emancipator and Preserver of the Nation during the Civil War sat towering over me while I read the Gettysburg Address and the Second Inaugural Address that are inscribed on the wall to the left and right of his statue.

I have sat in the audience seats in Ford’s Theatre and gazed upon the box seat where Abraham Lincoln was sitting when John Wilkes Booth shot him on April 14, 1865. Then I walked over to the Peterson House where President Lincoln was carried after being mortally wounded. He was laid diagonally on a bed in a back bedroom and died at 7:22 a.m. on April 15, 1865.

While in London, England, to my surprise I saw a statue of Lincoln in Parliament Square created by Saint Gaudens (a replica of the original that is in Chicago’s Lincoln Park).

After reminiscing about the places that I have visited and hearing about the 2009 bicentennial celebration of Lincoln’s birth, I had a renewed interest. I was able to experience Abraham Lincoln’s remarkable life and lessons and to explore his accomplishments in a way that enlightened and inspired me in November of 2008 while participating in the Mellen Charter School’s “Discovering America History Project.” I visited Springfield, Illinois, the city Lincoln loved and called home for over 30 years.

Download and read the rest of the article...

Part One: The Historic Neillsville Public Library:  Always Changing, Yet Always Reliable

By Allison Abel, a 2010 senior at Neillsville High School, Wisconsin

If you are looking to expand your creativity, have questions answered, or simply be entertained, look no further than the Neillsville Public Library.

As announced in its mission statement, the library has made it a goal to focus on helping the citizens of the Neillsville area to fulfill those desires. In order to best serve the community and its ever changing needs, the past and present staff has continually made changes to all aspects of the library-its collections, its services and even its building.  

As the library constantly changes, one thing remains the same:  its interesting history. In 1913, Mrs. J. W. Hommel was living in Neillsville with her second husband. Her first husband, George C. Carnegie, had a famous relative that would play a large part in the forming of the Neillsville Public Library:  her first husband's father was Andrew Carnegie's nephew.

Andrew Carnegie was a famously rich man who was often referred to as the "Patron Saint of Libraries," thanks to his passion for spending much of his hard earned money on establishing libraries all across the country. Sixty communities in the state of Wisconsin, from Antigo to Wauwatosa, have him to thank for generous grants which enabled them to establish libraries in their towns. In fact, only six states in the United States received more library grants than Wisconsin.

In 1913 in Neillsville, Mrs. J. W. Hommel had no reservations about asking her ex-husband's father's uncle for a donation. Andrew Carnegie generously provided 10,000 dollars to establish his 47th public library in Wisconsin on two conditions:  Neillsville would provide a central location for the building, and the citizens would pay to maintain and support the library after its construction.

Download and read the entire article...

The historic district of downtown Neillsville, Wisconsin, is a wonderful journey down memory lane.
(Photo courtesy of the city of Neillsville)