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ABRAHAM LINCOLN

THE TRIBUTE OF A CENTURY

THE CHICAGO COMMEMORATION

F the hundreds of celebrations held throughout the land

commemoration was one of the largest, most enthusiastic, and the broadest in conception of any in the country. The intimate relation of Chicago to the career of Lincoln made this commemoration one of national interest.

The Chicago Commemoration was initiated by a Resolution introduced by Alderman Albert J. Fisher in the City Council, which provided for an official committee to be appointed by the Mayor. Acting upon this resolution, Honorable Fred A. Busse, Mayor of Chicago, appointed the Lincoln Centennial Memorial Committee of One Hundred, which organized with Honorable William J. Calhoun as Chairman, and Nathan William MacChesney as Secretary. The Committee was a thoroughly representative one, and great enthusiasm was shown for the work it was to undertake. It was divided into various sub-committees-a Committee on Speakers, Halls, and Schools, under the direction of Edgar A. Bancroft, Esq.; a Committee on Military Participation, with Colonel Joseph Rosenbaum as Chairman; a Committee on Music, Art, and Decorations, Alexander H. Revell, Chairman; a Publicity Committee, with T. Edward Wilder and Joseph Basch as Chairmen, and Shailer Mathews as Vice-Chairman; a Committee on Church and Institutional Observance, Hon. C. C. Kohlsaat, Chairman; a Finance Committee, Arthur Meeker, Chairman; and a Committee on Conference and Unification of Celebration, with Frank Hamlin, Esq., as Chairman.

These, together with the other committees, mapped out a comprehensive plan for the celebration. Resolutions were passed by the Board of Cook County Commissioners, and a Proclamation was issued by the Mayor and posted throughout the city, calling attention to the Lincoln celebration, and urging upon the people a study of the life and words of Lincoln.

The plans of the Committee of One Hundred provided for an entire Lincoln week to be given to the commemoration of the Centenary, starting with exercises in the churches of the city on Sunday evening, February 7, and continuing throughout the week; with readings from the life and speeches of Lincoln in the schools of the city for three or four days preceding Friday, February 12, and with public exercises in the class-rooms of all the public and parochial schools on Thursday, February 11. The celebration was planned to be educational in its scope, and included meetings not only in all of the public, parochial, and private schools of the city, but in other educational institutions, and in public and private libraries. Speakers were furnished for these meetings under the direction of the general Committee; and the fraternal organizations, and various societies and clubs of the city, were stimulated to hold meetings of their own, with the result that there were held during the week considerably over a thousand meetings with which the Committee came in touch. A more remarkable example of the interest taken could not have been given.

The five largest meetings of the day-at the Auditorium, on the morning of the Centenary; at the Seventh Regiment Armory, on the afternoon and evening; at the Second Regiment Armory and at Battery B Armory, in the afternoonwere held directly under the auspices of the Committee of One Hundred, and were presided over by the Committee through its designated representatives.

Woodrow Wilson, President of Princeton University, spoke at the Auditorium meeting, in the forenoon of February 12a meeting which was remarkable in many respects, and presided over by Hon. William J. Calhoun, Chairman of the Committee of One Hundred, who made, of course, the speech of

introduction. The hall itself has been the scene of many great addresses, and many interesting civic events, in Chicago, starting with the nomination of President Harrison in 1888. It seats about forty-five hundred people, but the application for seats exceeded the capacity some two or three times. Sections were reserved for the City Council, the County Commissioners, the Grand Army of the Republic, the Women's Relief Corps, the various patriotic societies, the Consular Corps of Chicago, and the Committee of One Hundred, which attended in a body. The boxes were occupied by the various officers of the Army and Navy, and of the Illinois National Guard; and by representatives of the Legislature, the Supreme Court, and the Executive branch of the Government. The setting was perfect for a great meeting, and the speaker rose to the occasion, carrying his audience with him in waves of enthusiasm. When Chairman Calhoun requested that the veterans of the Grand Army of the Republic be allowed to march out prior to the dismissal of the meeting-which they did, carrying their banners and flags, and dipping their colors as they passed in review before General Grant, the son of their old commander-there was scarcely a dry eye in the house.

At the meeting in the Seventh Regiment Armory, on the afternoon of February 12, over three thousand people listened to the inspiring speech of Hon. J. A. Macdonald, editor of The Toronto Globe, receiving its masterly periods with rounds of applause. The meeting was appropriately presided over, and the speech of introduction made, by Hon. Frank Hamlin, a son of Hannibal Hamlin, Vice-President under Lincoln.

No less enthusiastic was the appreciation accorded Edwin Erle Sparks, President of the Pennsylvania State College, who spoke on the afternoon of the twelfth, in Battery B Armory, under the auspices of the First Cavalry and Battery B, Illinois National Guard. Hon. Charles H. Wacker was Chairman of the meeting, and introduced the speaker. President Sparks was formerly Professor of American History in the University of Chicago, and has edited an edition

of "The Lincoln-Douglas Debates" for the Illinois Historical Society.

Dr. Emil G. Hirsch, Minister of Sinai Congregation, Chicago, and Professor of Rabbinical Literature and Philosophy at the University of Chicago, gave an eloquent address to an overflowing and appreciative audience at the Second Regiment Armory, under the auspices of the Second Infantry, Illinois National Guard. He was introduced by Hon. Stephen S. Gregory, who acted as Chairman.

Perhaps the most remarkable meeting of the week was that held for the colored people on the evening of the twelfth, in the Seventh Regiment Armory under the auspices of the Eighth Infantry (colored), Illinois National Guard, and the Colored Citizens' Committee. Ten or twelve thousand colored people gathered there to celebrate the one hundredth anniversary of the birth of their emancipator. Although the meeting was set for eight o'clock, the people began to arrive in the afternoon, and, long before the hour set, the crowds were massed in the street. Colonel John R. Marshall, of the Eighth Infantry, made a short speech as Chairman pro tem., followed by Rev. A. J. Carey, who made the speech of introduction. The three other speakers at this meeting were the Rev. J. W. E. Bowen, President of Gammon Theological Seminary, Atlanta, Georgia; the Hon. William J. Calhoun, President of the Lincoln Memorial Committee of One Hundred, and now Ambassador to China; and Nathan William MacChesney, Secretary of the Lincoln Memorial Committee, present to extend the greetings of the City of Chicago to its colored citizens. The meeting was a most unusual one, and perhaps nowhere in the limits of the city was the Lincoln Centenary observed with such feeling, such enthusiasm, such exaltation and homage.

In addition to this meeting, there were hundreds of others throughout the city, of vivid interest and far-reaching influ

ence.

Dr. Charles J. Little, President of Garrett Biblical Institute, spoke at the Northwestern University Building, which stands upon the site of the old Tremont House. From the

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WHEREAS, February 12, 1909, 19 the One Hundredth Anniversary

of the birth of ABRAHAM LINCOLN; and

WHEREAS, There is a universal desire that on that day his memory should be honored by the nation which he helped preserve, and especially by that State in which he lived;

NOW THEREFORE, I, Fred A. Busse, Mayor of the City of Chicago, by virtue of a resolution passed by the Honorable, the City Council of Chicago, do hereby proclaim the week February 7-14, 1909, LINCOLN CENTENNIAL WEEK,

the

In order that this anniversary shall be appropriately observed,

I do most earnestly urge the citizens of Chicago to dedicate that week to the study of the life and words of President Lincoln.

In particular do I call upon the citizens of Chicago to assemble on February 12th in such places as shall be designated, to celebrate Lincoln's character, sacrifice and service to the Republic, to the end that a deepened sense of his loyalty to the Constitution, of his faith in the principles of democracy, and of his devotion to moral ideals shall inspire anew our own civic life.

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MAYOR.

Facsimile of Mayor Busse's Proclamation

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