Piano from the Lincoln White House on display in Lincoln Treasures

On Abraham Lincoln’s 200th birthday, the Museum opened its brand new exhibit Lincoln Treasures. This family-friendly show presents the Rail Splitter as the president and commander in chief. But it also describes Honest Abe as a real person, who loved his family, enjoyed reading, and liked simple foods. This exhibition helps us see him as a student, husband, father, friend, and most of all, a leader.

One of the iconic artifacts in Lincoln Treasures is the White House piano. Although Abraham and Mary did not play it, their young sons Willie and Tad did. Lincoln liked all kinds of music, and one of his favorite tunes was “Home, Sweet Home.” In 1862, during a visit to the White House, opera star Madame Adelina Patti performed this song at Lincoln’s request, accompanied by someone on this piano. While listening, both he and Mary teared up as they remembered fondly their son Willie who had recently died of a typhoid-like disease.

Getting the piano into the exhibit was not easy. Our Collections staff created a paper template of the piano to make sure they could make some of the tight corners in the Museum’s back hallways. Long before that could happen, though, two different experts worked on the piano so that it could be exhibited. While you can’t sit down and play the piano, it looks beautiful in Lincoln Treasures.

Listen to a recording of “Home, Sweet Home” performed by Madame Adelina Patti in 1905:

> Learn more about Lincoln Treasures
> Learn more about the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial celebration
> Shop Abraham Lincoln gifts

Tags: Abraham Lincoln, Audio, Lincoln Treasures, Peter Alter, Piano, Song, White House

This entry was posted on Monday, April 27th, 2009 at 11:06 am and is filed under Exhibitions, History, Multimedia. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.