Daniel Stowell
Daniel Stowell, director of the Papers of Abraham Lincoln Project at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, has been placed on administrative leave.
Meanwhile, grant writing duties for the project that aims to digitize every document ever read or authored by the Great Emancipator have been transferred to the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation, the ALPLM’s private nonprofit fundraising arm that will now play a role in securing money for the papers project.
Stowell was put on leave about two weeks ago. It’s not clear why. Chris Wills, spokesman for the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency that oversees the institution, said that he could not answer questions about Stowell’s status because it is a personnel matter. James Cornelius, curator of the Lincoln Collection at the institution, has been named to take Stowell’s place as acting director of the project.
Cornelius said that he is not a candidate for the permanent job and that he hopes that Stowell will return.
“I don’t believe it’s (Stowell’s position) been advertised,” Cornelius said. “I’m certain it’s not open in that sense. I hope that things will get back to the status quo.”
Stowell’s placement on leave is the latest in a series of shakeups at ALPLM and the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, which oversees the institution. Last year, IHPA director Amy Martin and ALPLM director Eileen Mackevich, who frequently clashed, were both forced out. Martin was replaced by Heidi Brown-McCreery, former chief of staff in the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, in February. Gov. Bruce Rauner named Alan C. Lowell, director of the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum, to head the Lincoln library and museum less than two weeks ago.
The Papers of Abraham Lincoln Project has been in turmoil since September, when Martin informed Stowell that an inspector general’s investigation was being launched due to concerns that money was being spent without the knowledge or authorization of the IHPA director, according to a memo that Stowell sent to supporters of the project. In the memo, Stowell insisted that no money had been spent inappropriately. Employment at the project has since been slashed, with the Rauner administration blaming the state budget impasse.
Stowell could not be reached for comment. He has headed the papers project since 2001. The papers project has been working on Lincoln documents since 1985.
Cornelius said that the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation has been put in charge of grant applications, a duty previously performed by Stowell.
“’Fiscal agent’ is the term that’s being used for the library foundation’s role,” Cornelius said. “Before this change, I don’t know if anyone had used the term ‘fiscal agent.’ It simplifies the funding of the whole project. It doesn’t change at all the underlying commitment to the program, and it probably frees up some staff time – what you’d call the historians, the archivists and the intellectual side – to focus on what the staff is good at doing.”
Cornelius said that the shift to the foundation on financial issues makes sense.
“If you were to look at it on a paper, you’d see…that there’s some sense, some organizational rationality to having the same foundation supporting the library and the museum also supporting the Papers of Abraham Lincoln,” Cornelius said. “The fact that we don’t have a state budget is, I think, probably one factor that made people rethink how well this can be funded.”
Contact Bruce Rushton at brushton@illinoistimes.com.
This article appears in May 5-11, 2016.
