What is it?
Because its own history is inextricably linked to the momentous events of the Civil War and the abolition of slavery, the College in the late 19th century came to identify itself with the ideals and achievements of former President Abraham Lincoln. “Indeed,” as one Berea president observed, “it is difficult to imagine that Berea would ever have come into existence had there been no Lincoln.” By the early years of the 20th century, Lincoln was claimed as a great example for Berea students, and the College’s identification with Lincoln became an integral part of Berea’s promotional literature.
Berea’s collection of works on Abraham Lincoln began with the gift to the library in 1935 of the John A. Shedd Lincoln Collection. Shedd, a New York attorney, was an avid collector of Linconiana, and his estate bequeathed his collection to Berea College. Today, the collection consists of over 1,800 books and other materials. Included are Eastman Johnson’s famous portrait of “The Boy Lincoln,” as a gift to the College in 1908, two handsome bronzed plaques, and one original Lincoln letter. New books about Lincoln are regularly added to the collection. A small Lincoln fund allows the library to keep the Lincoln Collection current and up to date.
How do I find it?
Items from this collection can be found on the Lincoln shelf in the stacks. These items do not have regular Dewey Decimal call numbers. Instead, they are marked with an accession number which indicated the rough order that the items entered our collection. This number is available on BANC in the Call Number section.
