Tough Tarbell Trivia

[AussieMick]

Did he have extra marital affairs before or after marriage, with men or women.

[Anita]

Her positive authentication of a collection of documents Wilma Frances Minor submitted to the editor of the Atlantic Monthly. It included 10 letters Wilma Frances Minor claimed had been written by Lincoln, 3 of which were to Ann Rutledge. The collection also contained 4 letters written by Ann Ann Rutledge.These were later proven forgeries.

[Rob Wick]

Again, neither is correct.

I'm quickly running out of clues, so this will be the final one before I give up the answer.

WWLD?

Best
Rob

[Steve]

Lincoln's opinions on then current political topics. Or what she thought Lincoln might do if he was currently President?

[Rob Wick]

You got it, Steve! Tarbell was often asked what Lincoln would think of current situations, and she would respond that she had no idea. She always told people they were asking the wrong question. Instead of asking what Lincoln would do, they should study how Lincoln made decisions. That would be the closest anyone could come to capturing Lincoln's viewpoint on events he had no knowledge of.

Best
Rob

[Rob Wick]

In 1942, the federal government purchased plates used to print six of Tarbell's books. What was behind the government's purchase?

Best
Rob

[Steve]

Based on the date, I'd guess it had nothing to do with Tarbell but with using it for war production materials.

[STS Lincolnite]

My initial thought is the same as Steve's above.

[Rob Wick]

Steve,

You are on the right track, but I am going to require a specific product to consider the answer to be correct. You'll see why later.

Best
Rob

[Rob Wick]

Think about what printing plates were made of in Tarbell's time.

Best
Rob

[Steve]

Aluminum?

[Rob Wick]

This is one of those questions that I am just going to give the answer because I can't think of any other clues. The answer is the lead plates were being melted down to make cores for bullets. What makes this significant (at least to me) is that for a number of years in her early life Tarbell was a strong advocate for peace, however she wasn't upset that her work was symbolically being used for war. To be sure, this came after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, but it still seems ironic to me.

Best
Rob