Whispers of Lincoln: 26 days, Two Rivers, One Photographer and a Flatboat—a photographic exhibit
- Ongoing: until Wednesday, August 31, 2011
- Monday: 10:00am
- Wednesday: 10:00am
- Friday: 10:00am
- Where: East Arkansas Community College, Forrest City
- Cost: Free
- Age limit: Not available
East Arkansas Community College-Forrest City
In 1828, Abraham Lincoln, just 19 years old, traveled by flatboat down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, delivering goods to New Orleans. What sights, sounds and sensations did Honest Abe experience along Old Man River? Perhaps only Lincoln knew, until now. Whispers of Lincoln: 26 days, Two Rivers, One Photographer and a Flatboat—a photographic exhibit open from August 1 – 31 at the East Arkansas Community College Fine Arts Center Gallery—envisions this 1828 voyage through Lincoln’s eyes.
Featuring 61 photographs taken by photojournalist Millie Delphia Carter of Wauconda, Illinois, the exhibit captures not only Lincoln’s point of view during this historic trip but also his spirit. Carter took the photographs in 2008, chronicling Lincoln’s Journey of Remembrance, a flatboat reenactment of his expedition from Rockport, Ind., to New Orleans. Two flatboat scale models and artifacts round out this comprehensive exhibit.
On September 9, 2008, in honor of the Great Emancipator’s 200th birthday, a small crew boarded an authentically reproduced flatboat in Rockport, Indiana, to retrace Lincoln’s 1828 voyage. Christened Journey of Remembrance, the 60-foot, 52,000 lb. boat was crafted from poplar and oak trees. The trip took only 26 days to complete. The flatboat docked at over 20 port towns before arriving in New Orleans on October 4, 2008. Documenting the entire event, Carter snapped over 3,000 color and black and white digital photos from the flatboat, a second boat and from shore. Via camera, she discovered not only the physical realms of Lincoln’s journey but psychological implications as well.
Whispers of Lincoln boasts an authentic boatman’s tin horn and cow horn, replica flatboat models of both Lincoln’s 1828 flatboat and Journey of Remembrance, and a cotton harvesting display.
Since receiving her first 35 mm camera in the 1970s, Carter has watched the world through a keen lens. This award-winning photographer has captured varied subjects, from newborn white coat seal pups in Canada, to the migration of Caribou, to children at a Wisconsin Christian Summer Camp. In 2001, she published a two-volume set of family history books, a project requiring 12 years of research.
The Whispers of Lincoln program is made possible in part by a grant from the Department of Arkansas Heritage, funded by general improvement funds provided by the Arkansas General Assembly.
Daily hours for the Fine Arts Center Gallery are Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 10:00 a.m. until 12:00 p.m. or as scheduled for special group tours. There is no charge for admission. For more information call 870-633-4480 or visit our website at www.eacc.edu.
This event was posted July 26, 2011 and last updated July 27, 2011
