We are pleased to hear that Gov. Bruce Rauner has recognized the need to give independence to the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum by making it a stand-alone state agency. Now it can get the attention it deserves and work on the accreditation it needs to win respect in the museum world. But the proposal to put the state’s historic sites in the hands of tourism marketers gives us pause. It would be better to give New Salem, the Lincoln Tomb, the Old State Capitol and the other sites to the ALPLM, where history and its interpretation will be the primary focus. –Fletcher Farrar, editor and publisher
This article appears in Feb 19-25, 2015.
