Join us down the rabbit hole, as we answer real questions from visitors to President Lincoln’s Cottage that we want to spend more time answering. We always start with Lincoln and the Cottage, but we often end up in unexpected places during the half hour. Listen to our Q & Abe podcast to learn more about President Lincoln’s life, the issues he grappled with, and the topics that are still relevant today.
Every day at President Lincoln’s Cottage we engage with visitors in conversation on difficult topics, from slavery to grief to immigration. Visitors, young and old alike, come here from next door and from around the globe. And occasionally, we get asked a question on a tour that stops us in our tracks – one we wish we could spend a half hour answering. Some of these questions, on their face, were innocent or simple, but on a second look they contain a level of complexity that leaves us wanting to know more.
Thanks to generous donations from our supporters, we created “Q & Abe” – a podcast that investigates real questions from visitors to the Cottage. Each episode, we’ll investigate a single real question a visitor asked us here.
You can find the episodes below, on Apple Podcasts / Spotify / Google Podcasts, or wherever you get podcasts.
For this episode, we’re talking about a question we got from a supporter of the Cottage who was thinking about what Lincoln would have done with more time. On the way we talk about what political candidates need to do to connect with voters, how historians approach uncertainty, and how to know if your idea is a good one in the first place. Come along with us!
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Kate Masur explained more about Lincoln’s willingness to collaborate with Congress, and Shannon Janean Currie made an intriguing connection between his time and our own.
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For this episode, we’re talking about a question we often get from visitors with a strong faith practice. On the way we talk about Mrs. Lincoln’s Sunday best, the intersection of religion and politics re: slavery, and definitions of Christian nationalism. Come along with us!
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John O’Brien shared more stories about the Lincoln family’s life at New York Ave Presbyterian, and Dr. Corey Walker explained how Frederick Douglass and Sojourner Truth were grappling with how the god they believed in could let slavery happen.
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For this episode, we’re talking about a question we got after telling the story of Willie Lincoln’s death from typhoid. Along the way we talk about the sanitary revolution – try washing your dishes!, equity in health resources across the city, and how to even measure what “healthy” means. Come along with us!
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While we were talking to the inimitable Dr. Ayanna Bennett, she was very clear that the Covid experience was a moment where the interconnectedness of everyone’s health became clear. We asked her, how else did Covid affect way she and her team approach their work?
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For this episode, we’re answering a question we’ve gotten from young people curious about Lincoln’s relationships. Along the way we talk about gossipy Springfield, Illinois in the 1840s, Lincoln’s close friend Joshua Speed, the invention of the term “straight,” and how museums can tell queer stories. Come along with us!
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Hugh Ryan shared an additional story of queer life in the 19th century, and Callie had a scenario she wanted to run by him to help understand how people in Springfield may have seen Lincoln and Speed.
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For this episode, we’re talking about a question we got from a British couple curious about the aftermath of the Emancipation Proclamation. Along the way we wander through several alternate timelines, the experience of Black soldiers, and the contemporary work of the National Guard. Come along with us!
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Greg Downs recounted other emancipation celebrations you may not have heard of, and General Blanchard ran us through how the National Guard’s timeline for deployment works.
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For this episode, we’re talking about a question we got from a student trying to understand the reasons behind Lincoln’s assassination. Along the way we’ll encounter a troubling relationship to cats, one of history’s most dramatic moments, and resources to stop radicalization in the present. Come along with us!
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Terry Alford told us more about Booth’s weapon, and Alex Wood encouraged us to think deeper about place(s) of memory.
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In this episode, we’re talking through a question we’ve gotten from older visitors, documentarians, and teen students alike. Along the way we pass through the Lincoln-Douglas debates, monumental controversies, the power of anger, and lost historical perspectives. Come along with us!
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Richard Blackett told us about one of the obstacles folks promoting emancipation in the US faced before the Civil War, and Seth Levi told us about a project he’s working on to help support voting rights in communities descended from the formerly enslaved, among others.
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For this episode, we’re exploring one of our all-time top questions at the Cottage. Along the way we’ll stop by the White House records, historical cooties, measuring authenticity, and defining what a museum even is, anyway. Come along with us!
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Erin Carlson Mast explains how the interpretation team made the decision that it was going to be ok for visitors to sit on the antique furniture in the house, and tells the story of how the Cottage acquired some objects from when Lincoln was in residence.
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For this episode, we’re answering a question from a young person impressed by Lincoln’s height. Along the way we talk about the peach basket story, Lincoln’s wrestling bouts, whether he would’ve been able to keep up in the NBA, and the intersection of sports and activism. Come along with us!
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Curtis Harris told us a little more about how the aftermath of the Civil War affected the ideologies behind the invention of basketball, and Len Elmore spoke to us about how he tries to share the long arc of history with his students.
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In this episode, we’re digging into a question a fifth grade student asked about Elizabeth Keckly, a formerly enslaved woman who became a renowned dressmaker to Mrs. Lincoln. Encounters along the way include colorism, the term “mulatto,” racial passing, and Carolus Linnaeus. Come along with us! Click here for more information, including an episode transcript.
One of the things we’ve been hearing a lot, in all the conversations about race this summer, is an idea that “I don’t see color.” Karen Grigsby Bates and Nina Jablonski helped us gain insight into how to respond to that statement. Click here for more information, including an episode transcript.
In this episode, we’re digging into a question we often get from visitors about Mary Lincoln and her mental health. Along the way we stop off at the orbitofrontal cortex, what it’s like to lose an election, the physiology of grief, and the connection between spiritualism and the telegraph. Come along with us! Click here for more information, including an episode transcript.
We asked Dr. Anjan Chatterjee an existential question, and also to explain a little more about his field of neuroaesthetics as it might apply to a place like the Cottage. Click here for more information, including an episode transcript.
In this episode, we’re investigating a visitor question about Lincoln’s relationship with his four sons, including Willie. While we’re looking around, we run into mischief in the telegraph office, our innate need to be loved, and a new reflection on Lincoln’s oldest son, Robert. Come along with us! Click here for more information, including an episode transcript.
About two and a half years ago, our Executive Director Erin Carlson Mast was in conversation with George Saunders, the author of Lincoln in the Bardo, on the Kojo Nnamdi show. The Kojo Show and American University were gracious enough to allow us to share with you some excerpts from the conversation. Click here for more information, including an episode transcript.
In this episode, we’re exploring a question from a friend of the Cottage about Lincoln’s self-doubt and what it means to be qualified for the presidency. Encounters along the way include rowdy 1860s politics, imposter syndrome, the Constitution, and a formula for courage. Come along with us! Click here for more information, including an episode transcript.
Normally, for a bonus episode, we share with you portions of our initial conversation with our guests, but today’s episode is a little different. We checked back in for a new conversation with Jared Peatman and Nancy Belmont just yesterday, after the election. What is the responsibility of the people being led? Click here for more information, including an episode transcript.
In this episode, we’ll be working through a visitor question: “Who did Lincoln trust the most?” Come along with us as we talk to a renowned Lincoln scholar, an expert on Lincoln’s political life, and a philosopher of trust. Click here for more information, including an episode transcript.
Sidney Blumenthal shared with us a gem of a story about Lincoln’s first encounter with what would become the Republican Party, and Sandy Goldberg gave us his recommendations for which novels and shows best explore the nature of trust. Click here for more information, including an episode transcript.
In this episode, we’ll be digging into a question asked by a third grade student at the Cottage – “If people saw that slavery was getting started, why didn’t they stop it?” Come down the rabbit hole with us as we talk to a historian of colonial Virginia, staff at the historic site of the 1619 landing, a former colleague, and two anti-racist facilitators. Click here for more information, including an episode transcript.
Several of our guests shared with us stories about their personal experiences encountering race and the other legacies of slavery. You’ll hear from Robin and Terry from Fort Monroe, and Catherine and Andre from Point Made Learning. Click here for more information, including an episode transcript.
For this episode, we’re investigating the question: “What’s the difference between liberty and freedom?” Dig in with us as we talk to a historian of the English language, a native French speaker, and a legal expert in the anti-trafficking field. Click here for more information, including an episode transcript.
Partway through our conversation with Didier Saillard, he had a question that resulted in a fascinating exchange about constitutions on both sides of the Atlantic. Click here for more information, including an episode transcript.
In this episode, we’re investigating a question we often get from visitors: “What’s the Cottage worth?” Come investigate with us as we pore through old banking records and talk to an insurance adjuster, an antiquities appraiser, and an architect who studies sacred spaces. Click here for more information, including an episode transcript.
Having rediscovered the full specifications for building the Cottage, we asked our Senior Preservationist Jeff Larry to read them for us, and to shed some light on them using his expertise. Click here for more information, including an episode transcript.
In this episode, we’ll explore a question asked by a second grader on a field trip to President Lincoln’s Cottage — “How could Lincoln sleep if slavery was happening?” Go down the rabbit hole with us as we speak to a Civil War historian, a sleep doctor, and a licensed professional counselor in search of answers. Click here for more information, including an episode transcript.
During our interview with Jon White, he told us a fascinating story about a Civil War soldier’s dream that illustrates the impact of the Emancipation Proclamation on the subconscious of everyday people. Click here for more information, including an episode transcript.
In this episode, we’ll dig into a question we received in several different forms — “Is it ok to call her Aunt Mary?” which visitors have asked about Mary Williams, a black woman working at the Cottage as a cook. Come exploring with us as we talk with two historians of the African-American experience in DC during the Civil War, an art curator, a literature scholar, and the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience as we search for answers. Click here for more information, including an episode transcript.
Adena Spingarn talks about why minstrelsy isn’t part of the popular consciousness as much as one might expect, and Chandra Manning tells us about the ways that black women in contraband camps asserted their presence, and their right to be present, beyond what Union soldiers expected of them. Click here for more information, including an episode transcript.
In this episode, we’ll unpack a question from a Belarusian visitor: “Why are there no pictures of Lincoln in his military uniform?” Come along with us as we talk to a Constitutional expert, a civil-military relations scholar, an artist’s family, and our very own neighbors at the Armed Forces Retirement Home in search of answers. Click here for more information, including an episode transcript.
In our conversation with the residents of the Armed Forces Retirement Home, Retired Staff Sergeant Jim Diamond told us a couple of incredible stories about his experiences serving in the army, including while he was working as part of the detail serving Arlington Cemetery and how he came to join the infantry after enlisting as a truck driver. Click here for more information, including an episode transcript.
