By Cate LiaBraaten
For more information about the above photo of a replica of Lincoln's Indiana home, please see UIC's digital collections page.
Depictions of Abraham Lincoln popped up at a few different places at the Century of Progress Exhibition. The two most notable areas were the Illinois Host Building, which had Lincoln-themed exhibit rooms, and the Lincoln Exhibit Group. The Lincoln Exhibit Group was an area of the world's fair dedicated to recreating significant buildings from the sixteenth president's life. This was located on the southern part of the fairgrounds, near the Fort Dearborn replica.
The Lincoln Group consisted of five buildings: the cabin Lincoln was born in, his boyhood home in Indiana, the Rutledge Tavern, and the Wigwam. The two homes were simple cabins, the Rutledge Tavern was a replica of a space where Lincoln the young man spent time in Springfield, Illinois, and the Wigwam was a political building in Chicago where Lincoln accepted the nomination for the presidency. These replicas claimed to be faithful representations of the original buildings, except the Wigwam, which was scaled down. All five of the buildings had rustic, wooden exteriors.
The Lincoln Group was a concession with an additional charge beyond fair admission. It was intended to be both educational and entertaining.
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