Original Lincoln Home Cottage to be Reconstructed

[Norm Hellmers]

My name is Norman Hellmers. I’m pleased that Roger Norton invited me to participate in the Lincoln Discussion Symposium. I had a 31-year career with the National Park Service, the last 13 years as Superintendent of Lincoln Home National Historic Site (1990-2003). I’d like to comment on the Abraham Lincoln Association’s proposal to construct a replica of what they call “Lincoln’s Springfield Cottage” and have it incorporated into the Site through a legislated boundary expansion. As soon as I learned about this proposal, I was opposed to it. Let me tell you why.

A replica of the 1846 cottage would, in my professional opinion, add nothing significant to the interpretive messages being communicated at the Lincoln Home. It also would add an unnecessary financial burden to the operations and maintenance budget of the park, which already has a backlog of needs. An opinion article I submitted to the Springfield State-Journal Register can be found here:
https://www.sj-r.com/story/opinion/colum.../42829857/
In addition to these issues, the proposal is based on false premises. To learn the truth of this matter, I would urge that anyone interested read all of what I have posted online here:
https://www.hellonorm.com/cottage/

The primary falsehoods include the following:
• a replica of the cottage from 1844 to 1856 cannot be constructed. It's impossible.
• the six-room cottage was not transformed directly into the twelve-room home.
• the Lincolns did not live in the six-room cottage for twelve years; only two or so.
• the cottage was not "cramped" nor had "so little space," etc.

I would like to make a few comments on what has been posted in this Discussion Symposium.
• I am unaware that the ALA “presented” the proposal “to the U.S. Department of the Interior for formal review” and “their approval.” To my knowledge neither the National Park Service nor the Department of the Interior has ever made any suggestion that they approve of this proposal.
• As noted in the Coalition’s letter to the leaders of the Congressional committees of jurisdiction: “The Iles property has been moved several times, which is also problematic under the Secretary of Interior Standards” and “has only a tangential relationship to the Lincoln story.”
• Just a simple correction: the models of the three stages of the Lincoln Home (1844-1846, 1846-1856, 1856-1861), are in the Dean House, not “Dana” House. I was Superintendent at Lincoln Home when we developed the exhibits for the Dean House. We felt that models were the best way to tell the story of the evolution of the Home.
• The 1,200-square-foot dimension of the 1844 cottage (aka Dresser cottage) only counts the first floor. (The ALA gave the 1,200 figure, which was simply another of their deceptions.) The half-story second floor was the same size, so the total size of the cottage was approximately 2,400 square feet. The circa 1846 enlargement added another 256 square feet or so, making the house about 2,656-square-feet. Raising the house in 1856 to two full stories did not add substantially to its square footage. The cottage had the same basic configuration of the first floor that is seen today: the stair hall (including newel post and handrail), front parlor, rear parlor (formerly the Lincolns’ bedroom), sitting room, and kitchen (later divided into a smaller kitchen and the formal dining room). A comparison of a cottage replica to the later Home would, frankly, not show that much spatial difference, except that the second floor bedrooms are full height.

Please excuse the length of these comments, but there is much to be said about the inappropriateness of this proposal. Any questions are welcome.