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Hundreds Celebrate Lincoln's Birthday At Statehouse

Last updated on Friday, February 13, 2009

(INDIANAPOLIS) - Hundreds of students, state officials and citizens have celebrated Abraham Lincoln’s bicentennial at a Statehouse birthday bash.

Governor Daniels calls Lincoln's combination of humility and passion to do right an example of true greatness, and a reminder of the importance of recognizing it.

Chief Justice Randall Shepard reminded the audience Lincoln's legal career shaped his world view.

And Lincoln impersonator Dean Dorrell of Washington, Indiana, quoted from several of Lincoln's defining speeches, from his first campaign for the Illinois legislature in 1832 to his second inaugural address, a month before his assassination.

Lincoln spent exactly a quarter of his life in Spencer County, from age seven to his departure for Illinois at 21.

Nation, State Honor Lincoln In Various Ways

The US mint will issue a special Indiana Lincoln penny in May.

A month later, the Lincoln Amphitheater at the 16th president's boyhood home in Spencer County debuts a new biographical play commissioned by the state.

Next year, Indianapolis will be one of five cities to host a traveling Lincoln exhibit from the Library of Congress.

And the state has added "Abraham Lincoln's Boyhood Home" to the "Welcome to Indiana" highway signs marking the state line.

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