Welcome to the second issue of Detours, the online magazine of the Illinois Humanities Council. In launching our magazine, we decided to take on big ideas; and "The Legacy of Abraham Lincoln," as a subject is almost as daunting as our first one, "Time." Lincoln has become a touchstone for just about any question one can think of, according to James McPherson, "quoting him as important as quoting the Bible." Focusing on the 16th president for our February 1999 issue is especially appropriate for the IHC. This year is our 25th anniversary and, as the state humanities council of the "Land of Lincoln," we are celebrating the importance of Illinois heritage.

Ironically, it may be harder for Illinoisans to pay attention to Lincoln. Lincoln, in all his variety, is buried in Illinois under the great stone monument at Oak Ridge Cemetery, just outside Springfield. But he is also buried under the weight of the "Lincoln plaques, markers, statues, and namesakes (towns, colleges, motels . . .so ubiquitous as to render the actual man of flesh and blood invisible)," as Dan Guillory has suggested in his essay, "Living with Lincoln." In this issue of Detours, Kim Bauer, historical research specialist for the Henry Horner Lincoln Collection at the Illinois State Historical Library, has written about some of the Lincoln statues in Illinois.

There is the weight of scholarship, too. In surveying the literature, it is hard to imagine that any more can be written about Lincoln; but there have been new discoveries. Scholars have turned increasingly to aspects of his life before he became President. For example, The Documentary History of the Law Practice of Abraham Lincoln, 1836-1861, known as The Lincoln Legal Papers, will be the definitive resource on Lincolnís legal career. This project has uncovered many manuscripts in county courthouses in Illinois. This material will soon to be available on CD-ROM

G. Cullom Davis, the director of this project, has been kind enough to share excerpts from an address he delivered as President of the Association for Documentary Editing in St. Louis, Missouri on October 9, 1998. As a scholar, Davis has truly "lived with Lincoln." These excerpts, titled "Popular Legacies of Abraham Lincoln," give us a refreshing insiderís look at the Lincoln industry, the state of Lincoln scholarship and Lincolnís influence on popular culture.

According to Richard Norton Smith, Director of the Gerald R. Ford Library and Museum, it would be a mistake to think that presidents in our own century were the first to be concerned with image. Lincoln was an excellent politician and campaigner--a Great Communicator as well as the Great Emancipator. Smith's article is drawn from the speech he delivered as the 1998 Governor's Lecture in the Humanities at the Executive Mansion in Springfield, IL.

We thank everyone who contributed to this issue of Detours. And we extend our deepest appreciation to the Chicago Historical Society and the Illinois State Historical Library for their generous assistance in finding photographs and for allowing us to use them here.

Kristina A. Valaitis
Executive Editor, Detours
Executive Director, Illinois Humanities Council