Since opening, visitors to President Lincoln’s Cottage have been oriented to the site by a brief film. While the film provided good information on the history of the site, it did little to prepare visitors for their tour of the Cottage. On April 3, 2017, we launched our new orientation experience — a concept called Lincoln’s Thought Bubbles — which incorporates a large participatory graphic. At left, Lincoln’s portrait is topped off with Lincoln quotes in thought bubbles and reflect some of the brave ideas Lincoln worked on while living at the Cottage. An array of magnetic words provide visitors with the starting point for some of Lincoln’s brave thoughts. Intermingled with those words are blank thought bubbles for visitors to fill in based on their dialogue with guide staff. Guides prompt visitor discussion by asking questions about where visitors do their best thinking; who has influenced how they think; and what obstacles they have encountered in getting their ideas across. Visitors fill in the empty thought bubbles with their own ideas.
Follow the brave ideas on our social media, where we’ll be posting a word cloud composed of the week’s responses each Friday. #HomeforBraveIdeas
The new wall where visitors reflect and write their brave ideas
An example of places where people do their best thinking
Tags:Brave Ideas, orientation, visitor
