Abraham Lincoln Library and Museum

From its earliest days, LMU began to receive and put on display Civil War and Abraham Lincoln memorabilia.  In 1929, a room in Duke Hall of Citizenship was dedicated to house the growing collection.  The Lincoln Room served as a showcase for the collection until the early 1970s.

In 1973, University President H. Y. Livesay and Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees Dr. Frank G. Rankin shared their dream of a permanent facility to house the Lincoln Collection.  Colonel Harland Sanders, a trustee, responded by providing $500,000 to construct the library and museum.  The Board of Trustees secured another $500,000, and on December 31, 1974, the University completed the building's fundraising campaign. The Lincoln Room was retired and a few months later, groundbreaking for the Abraham Lincoln Library and Museum was held.  The facility was completed in 1977.  Today, the museum sees an average of 14,000 visitors per year.

The Museum offers a variety of programs for the general public, school groups and area teachers.  The Museum's most popular programs are annual events.  Many programs commemorate significant events in Lincoln's life.  The tragic Civil War years receive their fair share of Museum projects also.  For additional information about annual or upcoming programs and events, contact Carol Campbell, Program and Tourism Director, by calling 423.869.6439 or email her at carol.campbell@lmunet.edu.

Whether you are visiting the Abraham Lincoln Library and Museum as a child on a school field trip, traveling with a motor coach group, or simply one of those that pass by the Museum everyday thinking, “One day I’ll stop in,” the Lincoln General Store has something for you. Offering replica soldier items such as canteens, haversacks, caps, and tin cups, children will be transported to the battlefields of the Civil War. There’s even a special designated place for kids to sign up for Lincoln’s Army.

The Lincoln General Store also carries a wide variety of books for young and old alike on Lincoln, the Civil War, the Underground Railroad, emancipation, and several other related subjects. Other items featured in the store are souvenir items (such as mugs, shot glasses, postcards, magnets, etc.); other replica items (bonnets, period toys, reproduction documents, quill pen and ink sets, etc.); a collection of CDs, DVDs, posters and prints; and an assortment of other items.

The Abraham Lincoln Library and Museum is located just south of Middlesboro, Kentucky, on U.S. Hwy. 25E in Harrogate, Tennessee, approximately 55 miles northeast of Knoxville.  The museum is open on the major summer holidays.  Otherwise the museum is closed for Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day as well as on other University holidays.

Please call 423.869.6235 for details.