A Revolution in Museums
Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum

release date: November 11, 2004

Burbank, Calif. -- When it opens in spring 2005, the museum portion of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum will redefine the possible in presidential libraries. The Lincoln Presidential Museum is more than 50% larger than any other museum associated with a presidential library. Using advanced technologies normally reserved for theme parks and yet maintaining standards of scholarship equal to or higher than The Smithsonian, The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum will plunge you into a fully immersive theatrical experience of Lincoln’s life and presidency, one of the most dramatic true stories of all time. The adjacent Lincoln Presidential Library, which opened October 14, 2004, protects priceless artifacts and documents such as Lincoln’s handwritten Gettysburg Address when they are not on display in the museum.

The museum guest experience is being created and produced for the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency and the Capital Development Board by BRC Imagination Arts. BRC Imagination Arts is famous for creating high-impact, audience pleasing, educational attractions for organizations like NASA, General Motors, Ford, Disney and Universal. The Lincoln Museum organizers had wanted something new, different and breakthrough.

Richard Norton Smith, Director of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, recently complimented BRC saying, “BRC was selected because they are storytellers who combine both showmanship and scholarship. BRC’s work captures the imagination of the broad general public and yet they have a profound respect for accuracy and getting the facts exactly right. This Library is our most prestigious project of the new millennium and Abraham Lincoln deserves nothing less.”

Through the concept development process, BRC and the staff of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency worked closely with a distinguished panel of renowned historians, including Richard Norton Smith, in order to accurately and appropriately present Lincoln’s life and the momentous role he played in American history.

BRC Imagination Arts is at the forefront of a radical shift in the very concept of museums. “Traditional museums are focused on buildings and collections rather than outcomes,” said Bob Rogers, founder and Chairman of BRC. “In the second half of the 20th Century, museums evolved with the introduction of multi-media and much better graphics, but these advances were merely evolution, not a revolution. The essence of the museum remained a building and a collection. The improved graphics and multi-media were merely there to support that building and collection.”

“But the BRC revolution says that the future museum is primarily a life-changing experience. The building and the collection are still important, but they support that life-changing experience. This is a profound reordering of priorities. This simple concept is causing a revolution that doesn’t always please the old school traditionalists, but the guests, the teachers, the students and the museum board members love it. It comes down to the question: ‘Why are you doing this museum and what outcome do you want?’ Everything should flow from there.”
The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum is an example of this new approach. It combines technologies and presentation techniques normally only available to theme parks and Hollywood, and puts them in the service of education. The results are dazzling, leaving visitors surprised, delighted and permanently more interested in the subject.

The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum’s mission is to fully engage the general public in the life and times of America’s 16th President. Visitors will encounter historical settings, interactive exhibits and theatrical special effects that make the history real and personal. Highlight experiences include:

Ghosts of the Library – This spectacular Holavision® show weaves an enchanting tale about the mystery and discovery awaiting the scholar in a great historical archive like the one in the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library. During the presentation, state-of-the-art Holavision® special effects create ghost-like, misty visions of historical figures which share the stage with a live actor as viewers are transported on a detective’s journey into the past.

The Journey –This immersive, walk-through experience allows you to travel with Abraham Lincoln through the emotionally powerful and personal events that shaped his life and that forever shaped the destiny of the United States. Along the way, you enter highly researched, dramatic, “you-are-there” settings that put you “inside” dramatic moments in history. You will personally experience events of Lincoln’s life through great storytelling and vivid, immersive, historically accurate environments. Alternating with the dramatic historical immersion experiences, you also encounter world-class traditional museum “object galleries.” Here you can view the real artifacts from the moment in history you have just experienced in the previous setting.

Treasures Gallery – As visitors exit The Journey, they enter the Treasures Gallery, a spectacular traditional exhibit space showcasing many of the actual items that were a part of Lincoln’s life. Display cases offer visitors close-up views of Lincoln’s own original handwritten Gettysburg Address and a signed copy of the Emancipation Proclamation, as well as personal effects such as Lincoln’s shaving mirror and Mary Lincoln’s music box.

Lincoln’s Eyes – Presented in the Union Theater – In this dazzling special effects theater presentation, an artist commissioned to create a portrait of Lincoln struggles to understand all the things he sees in Lincoln’s eyes – sorrow, resolve, hope, vision, forgiveness and more. The 200° presentation wraps around the audience with special effects and multiple layered screens of digital projection.

Mrs. Lincoln’s Attic – In this imaginative and highly interactive themed area, the museum’s youngest guests can try on period clothing, build a miniature log cabin, interact with a dollhouse based on the Lincolns’ home, play with period toys and more.

Ask Mr. Lincoln – This unique interactive theater is your chance to ask Mr. Lincoln a question and receive the answer in his own words.

Contacts: ALPLM Director, Richard Norton Smith, 217-558-8882
Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, Dave Blanchette,
217-558-0516
BRC – Bob Rogers, 818-841-8084