This spring, UK travellers can combine history, education and entertainment by visiting the new Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum, Springfield, Illinois, whichÊwas officially openedÊby President George W.ÊBushÊon 19 April 2005. Nearly two centuries after Lincoln’s birth, the museum commemorates one of the greatest U.S. presidents in history.Ê The museum has been created by the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency (IHPA), BRC Imagination Arts - renowned for creating technologically stunning attractions for NASA and Disney - and a distinguished panel of historians.

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The new 100,000-square-foot museum will tell Lincoln’s Great American Story, employing 21st century technology to make the 19th century live again. ÊCombining scholarship with showmanship that will both inform
and astound, the museum will provide visitors with a truly breakthrough museum experience.

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Richard Norton Smith, the Museum’s Executive Director, who also served as Director of Libraries honouring U.S. presidents Hoover, Eisenhower, Reagan and Ford, said: “We have reinvented the concept of the presidential library and museum to engage visitors in a new way.Ê We’ve married academia and entertainment to create a compelling attraction for all audiences. ÊWe want visitors to leave more informed and inspired than when they entered the museum. This is hands-on history that feels like real life”.
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