In 1831, Abraham Lincoln and Jack Armstrong engaged in a long wrestling matchAbraham Lincoln: 16th U.S. President. The Great Emancipator. Author of the Gettysburg Address. Arguably the most famous president who once wrestled.
More than 150 years after he was murdered at Ford's Theater in Washington, D.C., Lincoln finds himself in a serious predicament not even a wrestler who reportedly had a record of 300-1 -- yep, the same Abe Lincoln -- would find an easy reversal.
Or, more accurately, not Lincoln himself but his Presidential Library and Museum in his adopted hometown of Springfield, Illinois is in the predicament ... as some of that facility's most prized possessions that were once Lincoln's may have to be auctioned because it is wrestling with a historic debt.
Abraham Lincoln's glovesThe museum's private foundation is more than $9 million short on a $23 million loan that was used to purchase Lincoln artifacts from a private collector. Among the artifacts: the bloody gloves Lincoln wore to Ford's Theater the night of his assassination ... and a wanted poster seeking his assassin.
Carla Knorowski, who runs the museum's private foundation, has come up with various ways to generate publicity ... and funds. She was recently featured on CBS Morning News ... in newspaper articles across the country ... and, in perhaps one of the most surprising, set up a GoFundMe page last month.
There is some urgency to this quest. The Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum needs the $9.7 million to pay off the loan by October 2019.
As of this writing, the GoFundMe page has collected approximately $9,500 ... not too bad for a month-old fundraiser, but only 1/1000th -- a microscopic fraction -- of the ultimate total needed in approximately 16 months.
How did the Lincoln Library and Museum get into this predicament?
The aforementioned Carla Knorowski of the museum foundation shared the museum's plight in a May 2018 article originally featured in the Chicago Tribune, and posted at the Lincoln Library and Museum's GoFundMe page:
"In 2007, the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation, a private foundation that exists to protect and enhance Lincoln's legacy, was asked by the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum to purchase a privately held collection of Lincoln artifacts that otherwise would have been sold to one or more private collectors. The collection would broaden the museum's holdings and once purchased, would be made available to the public in perpetuity.
"At the time, the museum and foundation were less than a decade old and neither had the financial ability to purchase the collection outright. Financing was obtained and the $25 million collection was purchased. Since then, foundation staff and volunteer board members have raised more than $15 million in private donations to retain the collection. The remainder is due in just 20 months."
Knorowski then says it's time for individual citizens to step up.
"All of us today, who, because of Lincoln, experience a more free and just society, must rise up, contribute and ensure justice for him."
"If a single Lincoln artifact goes to auction, taken from the public realm, then we, as a nation are collectively diminished and must look ourselves in the mirror and take responsibility. It is not any one individual's or group's responsibility to bear; it is all of ours to bear.
"What would Lincoln do if faced with this problem? He would solve it and not let us down."
After all, isn't that what a wrestler would do? Instead of backing away from a challenge, the wrestler in all of us would step forward and do what we can.
After all, that's what Lincoln the wrestler would do. He never backed down from a challenge, whether it was as a young man at wrestling events at local county fairs ... or taking down the town bully in New Salem, Ill., the small town where he lived before launching his political career ... or in the White House, dealing with all the horrors of the Civil War.
Lincoln's real wrestling background
Perhaps you've seen one of those images of Abraham Lincoln in a wrestling singlet. There's one picture of him in a classic stance ... and another of him with a WWE championship belt draped over his right shoulder.
Despite the insistence of some wrestling fans, these images are the product of the imagination of wrestling fans using Photoshop. They are not actual photographs of Lincoln as wrestler. (For starters, today's wrestling singlet arrived on the scene nearly a century after his assassination. And ... from all reports, back in the early 1800s, Lincoln and his opponents grappled wearing long-sleeve shirts, or bare-chested.)
Two years ago, Jay Serafino wrote a 600-word article for the website MentalFloss.com about Abraham Lincoln the wrestler. Here's some of that essay:
"Standing at an impressive 6 feet, 4 inches tall, with lanky arms perfectly designed to tie his opponents in knots, Lincoln was a renowned grappler known for his peerless strength and keen mind in his teens and early 20s. Remember, though, wrestling in rural 19th century America didn't have the fluid grace of an Olympic contest, and it certainly wasn't the garish morality play of the WWE. No, this style of wrestling was a pure test of strength, with combatants locking horns to prove their dominance in front of an audience mostly made up of drunks, gamblers, soldiers, or some combination of the three. Known as catch-as-catch-can style, this brand of wrestling is best described as 'more hand-to-hand combat than sport.'"
"Touting just one loss among his 300 (or so) contests, Lincoln gained a reputation among the New Salem, Illinois, locals as an elite fighter, eventually earning his county's wrestling championship ..."
Lincoln's most memorable contest came against Jack Armstrong, a member of the rough and rugged Clary's Grove Boys. When Armstrong heard stories of Lincoln's famous strength (from Lincoln's boss, no less), he challenged the future president to a match. Crowds gathered. Money was wagered. And when the bout was over, Lincoln again stood tall, as he always seemed to."
Want to know more?
Want to know more about the Abraham Lincoln Library and Museum in Springfield, Illinois? Check out the official website for the facility ... and the unofficial fan website. Both websites offer a wealth of information for the Lincoln Library and Museum, which, since its opening in 2005, ranks as the most popular facility of its kind in the U.S. (As someone who has visited a number of official Presidential library/museum facilities over the years, the Lincoln library/museum ranks as the most user-friendly, with state-of-the-art, compelling displays designed to appeal to visitors of all ages.)
To learn more about Abe Lincoln's wrestling background, start by reading the entire MentalFloss.com article quoted above. Another good source is acclaimed Lincoln historian Roger Norton's essay about Lincoln's wrestling match vs. Jack Armstrong. And, while you're at it, check out the National Wrestling Hall of Fame's tribute to Lincoln. Yes, the 16th President is enshrined in the Hall in Stillwater, Okla., having been welcomed as an Outstanding Member in 1992.
In recent years, members of the PORTA High School wrestling team of nearby Petersburg, Ill. have re-enacted the famous Lincoln-Armstrong wrestling match as it might have occurred in the 1830s -- not on Resilite but on the grass, in shirts-and-pants period costumes (not singlets). Here's an article from the Springfield newspaper.
To learn more about New Salem, Illinois and the authentic replica of the community where Lincoln lived and wrestled as a young man, click here.
There are countless books about Abraham Lincoln. At least two focus on his wrestling background.
"The Wrestling Presidents from Pins to Patriots" by presidential historians William S. Worley and Gary M. Gray is geared toward young readers. It presents a wrestling-centric portrait of the life story of each of the U.S. Presidents who wrestled at some time in his life, in an engaging, first-person perspective. The 126-page book also includes a DVD. Available from the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.
Famed wrestling historian Mike Chapman -- author of dozens of books, many on wrestling -- recently wrote "The Sport of Lincoln." Here's how the book was described in a recent magazine ad: "Travel back to 1831 as Abe Lincoln wrestles Jack Armstrong in this amazing booklet." To order this $6 booklet, contact Culture House at (641) 791-3072 or mail to: Culture House, 3830 Harbor Avenue, Newton, IA 50208.
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