Lincoln Heritage Museum, Lincoln, IL
The Lincoln Heritage Museum is a timed visitor experience interpreting the life of President Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln’s story is told within the final hours of life between the time that he was shot at Ford’s theater in Washington DC to when he died in a nearby boarding house. Within those finial hours of his life, Lincoln could have experienced a “Life Review,” essentially seeing his life flash before his eyes.
The Lincoln Heritage Museum interprets important events of Lincoln’s life with video, audio, tactile interactions as well as live character interpreters.
What makes this exhibit different from other Lincoln exhibitions is that this interactive experience is interpreted in first person. The visitor is guided throughout the experience by Lincoln himself through video and audio programs containing realistic actors and historic imagery. Unlike many museums of it’s kind, the visitor is encouraged to touch and interact with the items within the Lincoln Heritage Museum. Visitors interact with 53 audio/video programs by activating 35 motion and touch-points. The touch-points are made possible using proximity sensors and include objects such as a plow, rose, quilt, books, maps and even a coffin.
Working with award winning exhibit designer and fabricator Taylor Studios, Inc. of Rantoul, IL , Eidson Studios served as the Interactive Exhibit Designer and created the audio, animation/video content as well as integrated and installed the AV technology used to interpret the life review.
Visitors are initially held in a queuing area resembling the foyer of Ford’s Theater where the production of “Our American Cousin” is faintly heard through the walls of the theater. At timed intervals, integrated door operators allow small groups of visitors into the next room where they begin the experience. Through special lighting and projection technology, the mural wall appears to magically open into the president’s theater box revealing a video reenactment of Lincoln’s assassination.
After experiencing Lincoln’s assassination, the visitor is then led throughout the exhibit by Lincoln’s “ghost” with the aid of automated doors, lighting, surround sound audio and video. Click on the image below to listen to a sample of the “Lincoln’s Personal Life” section of the exhibit. Here the visitor views photos, writings and artifacts while listening to stories of Lincoln from various friends and family. The visitor is led to each story’s related area by theatrical lighting and immersive surround sound. This preview mimics the experience.
Within the experience of the exhibit are a multitude of other audio programs to hear and videos to see. Lincoln, aboard a train, bids farewell to his family and friends gathered beneath the train car as he is about to leave his familiar surroundings to travel to Washington DC. This audio and visual experience puts the visitor in that crowd, within the gathering umbrellas in the rain.
Later during the Civil War, Lincoln suffers through trials and tribulations of being Commander In Chief during a horrible time in US history. The Commander In Chief video and a video interpreting the Gettysburg Address is viewed from within a Civil War era styled tent.
