Reminder

[David Lockmiller]

The photo of Marilyn Monroe gazing at Lincoln you refer to was taken in August of 1955 in Bryant Cottage in Bement Illinois during her visit there for their Centennial celebration. [T]he amazing fact [is] that 20,000 people came to see her!



I checked and the whole story appears to be true. If it were not Marilyn Monroe, I would not believe the story. It is a very good "Marilyn Monroe" story from beginning to the end and well worth reading. According to the newspaper story, it was 28,000 people (not 20,000) who came to see her and she had to get a police escort provided by the Governor of Illinois to get her back to Chicago in time for her flight back to New York City.

The story appeared in the Champaign, Illinois News-Gazette on August 6, 2015.

60 years ago, Marilyn Monroe Came to Town


Monroe was paid $500 for her appearance. She told people she wanted to visit the Bryant Cottage because it was where Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas had discussed their famous debates.

While at the cottage, Monroe, a fan of Lincoln, gave a brief speech about the 16th president that she had written on the flight from New York to Chicago.

"I think ... of Lincoln as my father. He was a good and wise man," reads a Monroe quote displayed at Bryant Cottage.