• The Personal Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln was our most complex President. This exhibit touches on some of the personal qualities that identify Abraham Lincoln as a fundamentally decent human being. Although hundreds of books have been written about him, there is no such thing as the “definitive Lincoln”. There is always another side.

He was self-educated, yet a graceful crafter of words. He was a backwoods wrestler, yet the country’s greatest philosopher. He is renowned as a humorist, yet he was plagued by depression and constant soul-searching.  His iron will won the Civil War, yet he was softhearted almost to a fault. He was a wily politician, yet often brutally honest with the country. He won the war through unbelievable carnage, yet he is the greatest healing force the country has ever known.

Lincoln the father, Lincoln the leader, Lincoln the crafter of words and Lincoln the instinctive healer define the American ideals for which we continue to strive today. By definition, those ideals will never be fully achieved, yet amid the country’s never-ending continuum of successes and failures the struggle to live up to Lincoln’s standards defines us as a people.

This exhibit attempts to illuminate some of the personal qualities that make him the indelible part of the American psyche he remains today.

Vermont and the North Shire in the Civil War
The Common Experience of Uncommon Valor

This is the story of the Equinox Guards. It is the story shared by all soldiers, and all families, and all communities on both sides of the conflict.

Discover their realities, their defeats, the profound impacts and ultimately, their common experience.

In 1861, Manchester and the surrounding towns (the North Shire) heeded President Lincoln’s call and formed a volunteer regiment known locally as the “Equinox Guards”.  The recruits trained for weeks and then, amid much fanfare, marched to the Depot and journeyed on to the front.  Vermont as a whole suffered disproportionately high casualties for the Union cause.  The Equinox Guards were part of the 5th Vermont Regiment, which went on to suffer the highest rate of casualties of any Vermont Regiment.

The exhibit focuses on who these soldiers were, the path to their destiny and the profound impact that destiny visited on the community. The real message will be the degree to which that unique story is also reflective of the stories of hundreds of communities on both sides of the conflict.

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