Lecture and book signing by Lincoln scholar and author Harold Holzer
Followed by screening of Well Done, Indiana and Young Lincoln
Saturday, Jan. 27, 2-4 p.m., Indiana History Center, 317-232-1882, www.indianahistory.org

Abraham Lincoln and Indiana are tethered to their 190-year-old umbilical cord. The Indiana Historical Society is committed to keeping Hoosiers involved with their link to the martyred president.

With the newly published coffee table book Abraham Lincoln Portrayed in the Collections of the Indiana Historical Society, the number 16 swirls about as a ghostly connective. Indiana territory passed into statehood in 1816. Lincoln became the nation’s 16th president. His remains arrived in Indianapolis for viewing at the state capitol 16 days following his assassination.

Holzer, in an engaging introduction to the book, deftly navigates Lincoln portrayed for a public hungry for information about this 1860 “dark horse presidential candidate” and how the society became the premier depository of Lincoln images.

IHS partnered with Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Todd Gould and WFYI productions to showcase Lincoln’s life in pioneer Spencer County, and with the Sanders Group for an interactive video on Lincoln’s life.

The new exhibit in the History Center’s fourth floor rotunda features the society’s Jack L. Smith Graphics Collection and the Daniel R. Weinberg Lincoln Conspirators Collection to bring alive the trauma of Lincoln’s death.

Also pick up a free copy of A Guide to Indiana’s Lincoln and plan excursions as well to the Lincoln Museum in Fort Wayne (260-455-3864, www.thelincolnmuseum.org) and five sites in Spencer County (888-444-9252, www.LegendaryPlaces.org). The buzz is starting, too, for the Abraham Lincoln bicentennial celebration set for 2009.