Mary Todd Lincoln, wife of the 16th president and first lady of the United States from 1861 to 1865, will be in the spotlight at the 6:30 p.m. Dec. 13 Second Thursday program at the Bluegrass Heritage Museum.
A native of Lexington and a member of a large, wealthy Kentucky family, she moved to Springfield, Ill., after finishing school in her teens and there met and married Abraham Lincoln. She was 23 and he was 33.
Her life will be reviewed by Dr. Randolph Hollingsworth, assistant provost at the University of Kentucky. She also serves as administrator of "Kentucky Women in the Civil Rights Era." Hollinsgworth has a B.A. from Vassar College, a M.A. in teaching from Colgate University and a Ph.D. in history from UK.
The Backroom Bluegrass Band, which has performed its traditional bluegrass music at the museum on a number of occasions, will present “Music and Memories at the Museum” from 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 15. Attendees will have an opportunity to feel the glow of Christmas as they take a nostalgic stroll through Winchester’s premier Victorian home.
Admission is free, but donations will be accepted to assist with the museum’s “Retire the Debt” campaign. The museum recently reached its goal of raising $17,500 in a campaign launched in July 2012 and was awarded a matching amount from the Bluegrass Community Foundation, reducing its starting debt of $70,000 to $35,000. With the donation of $1,000 from a local bank, the museum is now seeking to raise an additional $16,500 by June 30, 2014 to qualify it for a second matching grant of $17,500 that would leave it debt free.
The Jan. 10 Second Thursday will feature Ron Elliott discussing Franklin Sousley of Fleming County who helped raise the flag on Iwo Jima and the battle of Iwo Jima. The museum has Sousley’s portrait and dress uniform on display in its Military History Room.
All Second Thursday programs are held at the museum, 217 S. Main St., and are open to the public.
Refreshments will be served.
The museum will be closed Dec. 24-25 for Christmas and Dec. 31-Jan. 6 for inventory.
