Lincoln Boyhood Historic Resource Study

DESIGNING THE LINCOLN STATE MEMORIAL

The enlarged commemorative project, now known as Nancy Hanks Lincoln Memorial Park, continued to attract visitors, and local citizens remained displeased with the behavior of visitors. Finally, in 1923, Col. Richard Lieber, who served as Director of the Indiana Department of Conservation, determined that designation of the memorial site as a state park was in keeping with his department's plan for developing a statewide system of parks. The State legislature created the Lincoln Memorial Commission to replace the park's Board of Commissioners as administrators of the site. The organization received a $5000 appropriation to erect a suitable memorial. In 1925, the State acquired the cemetery and a surrounding tract of land, totaling 60 acres; this was augmented in 1929 when Frank C. Ball of Muncie, Indiana, bought an additional 29 acres and donated it to the state. [216] Indiana Governor Ed Jackson also appointed 125 people to the Indiana Lincoln Union (ILU), which was to be responsible for raising funds to create a new memorial to Abraham Lincoln. The group was led by some of the most prominent professionals in Indiana, including Anne Studebaker Carlisle and Paul V. Brown. Thus began the second phase in the site's interpretive development, as this board represented the instigation of corporate philanthropy in the maintenance and interpretation of historic sites, a trend that was occurring nationwide at numerous historic sites.

During this phase of development, the park began to be transformed into a carefully designed landscape intended to convey a specific emotional experience. In December 1926, the ILU invited nationally known landscape architect Fredrick Law Olmsted, Jr., and architect Thomas Hibben to the site. Olmsted's services were contracted to assess the existing commemorative landscape and to create a preliminary plan that would clearly define future development. [217] The two architects intended to simplify and rationalize the park's plan while remaining true to the original mission of developing a monument to Abraham Lincoln's greatness. In so doing, they created the foundation for the memorial's development throughout the remainder of the twentieth century.

Olmsted's first assessment of the site concluded that it contained too many distractions. He stated that the combination of utilitarian structures, such as the road, railroad, and picnic shelter, along with the cast iron fences, gilded lions, and exotic shrubs distracted attention from the peaceful surroundings of the cabin site and Nancy Lincoln's grave. To remedy the situation, Olmsted sought to simplify the site and create what he termed "the Sanctuary." [218]

Olmsted's plan removed most of the elements that had been added to the park over the preceding fifty years. The project was strikingly similar to preservation activities elsewhere in the United States, such as at Colonial Williamsburg, in which major elements of the existing built environment were stripped away to create a visitor's experience that would satisfy contemporary tastes. The result was a divorce of the park site from its historic context and the creation of a frozen moment in time that seemed to represent an experience visitors would accept as authentic. Such a selective vision of the past is characteristic of efforts to interpret historic events, with the popular audience and scholars alike engaging in a deliberate selection and evaluation of past events, experiences, and processes. [219] At the Lincoln park, this process of "reconstructing" the past included removal of most of the structures associated with the small town of Lincoln City that stood near the cabin site, as well as the removal of ornamental shrubs and other plants located at the cemetery. The only monument not removed was the Studebaker grave marker. Other efforts under the direction of Olmsted included the Lincoln Memorial Commission's acquisition of 428 acres, which they reforested with native trees and shrubs, and the ILU's plans to move the old Lincoln trace that bisected the cabin and gravesite. All of this work resulted in the creation of a blank slate from which to begin a new effort at memorializing Abraham Lincoln. Olmsted sought to create a landscape that was monumental and would stimulate visitors to have "their own inspiring thoughts and emotions about Lincoln." [220]

Olmsted's landscape design for the Lincoln park was derived from the City Beautiful Movement of the early twentieth century. This movement evolved out of a relationship between architects, landscape architects, and urban planners and involved creating picturesque landscapes with carefully controlled views framed by naturalistic features that were either part of the original landscape or man-made. A central element of the Olmsted plan was the creation of a primary vista known as the allee, with a cruciform arrangement that had the United States flag at its center (Figure 21). The cruciform arrangement provided for east-west and north-south traffic along with a strong spiritual image. Although religious symbolism imbued Olmsted's plan, his only overt reference to this was in the use of the religious word "Sanctuary." [221]

Figure 21: Allee and Plaza Site Plan, 1927-1938 (McEnaney, 2001: 15) (click on image for an enlargement in a new window)

The ILU added additional elements that emphasized the religious context of the site, especially through references to Nancy Lincoln as the "sainted Mother," while the site itself was "sacred soil." Another aspect of commemorating this sacred quality was the effort to preserve the cabin site in a way deemed appropriate by the ILU. The Lincoln City schoolhouse had been constructed near the site in 1904 and thirteen years later, a marker was erected that identified the location as the cabin site. Following a major fundraising drive, the ILU purchased the school property and demolished the building and other surrounding structures. After deciding a cabin reconstruction would be inappropriate, the organization hired architect Thomas Hibben to design an appropriate marker. The extant bronzed sill logs, fireplace, and hearthstones were the centerpiece of his design; these were accented with masonry retaining walls built of Bedford limestone, stone benches, and flagstone walkways. The symbolism of the hearth, as the "altar of the home," was in keeping with the ILU's predilection for treating the Lincoln Memorial as holy ground. [222]

Also during the early to mid-1930s, a state park encompassing the Lincoln site was established (Figure 22). In order to undertake the state park plan and Olmsted's landscape design, Donald Johnston, the state landscape architect, was appointed to oversee implementation of these two separate but interconnected projects. Between 1929 and 1933, much of the memorial was constructed according to Olmsted's plan, although Johnston slightly revised the designs for the allee and plaza. The allee consisted of a central lawn flanked by gravel walks, which were lined on the outside by dogwood trees, tulip poplars, and sycamore trees. Furthermore, much of Lincoln City's built environment was razed. In addition to the schoolhouse, a restaurant, garage, hotel, church, 11 houses, 7 barns, and 20 outbuildings were removed from the community during the first phase of development. The 1909 ornamental fence and statuary around Nancy Lincoln's grave also were removed. Further work at the memorial included grading the site, constructing a boundary fence, relocating state highway 162, adding a drainage system and reservoir, and reforesting the grounds based on notes taken during the 1805 Federal land survey. Working with the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), the State planted 22,441 native trees and 15,218 shrubs at the memorial. CCC Camp 1543 also was responsible for developing the nearby Lincoln State Park, where they planted 57,000 trees and 3,200 shrubs between July 1933 and June 1934. [223] In 1931, the concept for a Trail of Twelve Stones was developed, and installation of the stones was completed in 1934. The state also integrated the cabin site into the rest of the memorial by constructing a "Boyhood Trail" that led to the family cemetery.

Figure 22: Site Plan of Lincoln State Park and Nancy Hanks Lincoln State Memorial, c. 1932 (click on image for an enlargement in a new window)