It was speeches like the one in Dayton that brought the lawyer from Springfield, Ill., to the attention of the then-new Republican party, leading to Lincoln’s presidential nomination — and election — in 1860.
The Lincoln Society of Dayton, a group of local Lincoln devotees, is working to raise $270,000 to build and place an 11-foot bronze monument of the nation’s 16th president in the downtown plaza close to the Court House, not far from where Lincoln spoke some 156 years ago.
With relatively little publicity, the organization has raised about half that amount so far. Their goal is to unveil the statue — which will stand 14 to 15 feet once it’s on a pedestal — next Sept. 17, with a hoped-for parade downtown and speakers.
An Urbana sculptor, Mike Major, has created the clay model and is readying to drive it to Illinois for the complex bronze casting process.
Diane Buchanan Johnson leads the Lincoln Society as president. An Illinois native, she has nurtured a lifelong fascination with Honest Abe. The society itself was formed 12 years ago to commemorate Lincoln’s speech.
But beyond the statue, the society has an enduring purpose — to educate anyone willing to listen about what many regard as the nation’s greatest president.
Interested in donating for the downtown monument? Visit power2give.org, type "Dayton" into the search field, and the Lincoln Society's campaign should come up.
I sat down with Johnson recently to unpack all of this. This is an edited transcript.
Q: How was your Lincoln fascination born?
Johnson: "I've been interested in Lincoln for a long time. When we were in school, we studied Lincoln, and we always had a picture of Lincoln in our classrooms. And we were always 'the Land of Lincoln' (in Illinois), on our license plates and everything. …
“With what’s happening today, it just seems to me that children and adults do not have enough knowledge about Lincoln — who he was, his honesty, his integrity and his total dedication to interpreting the Constitution. … He went back to it constantly. He went back to the Constitution constantly. And absolutely, the Declaration of Independence.”
Q: How strong has the community response been?
Johnson: "There has been a good deal of money that has been released to us through very giving people. The Iddings Foundation just gave us a $1,000 grant. Charles Berry has given us a pledge, a challenge pledge of $25,000. It's to challenge other Daytonians to give. Bob (Johnson, her husband) and I are doing a matching grant of $25,000. And we're presently doing that through Power2Give."
Q: How long have you pursued this dream of a monument? And what happens after it's raised?
Johnson: "Since 2003. But we have become bigger than that. We have become an educational entity, with the University of Dayton LL (Lifelong Learning).
“We’ve now established the first Sunday of every month, expect August, to have meetings. We have very renowned people who are speaking. We have professors of history coming in …
“Our objective with the Lincoln Society today, with the statue, is to inspire and to challenge Daytonians and students about the value of Dayton is, about the role we played in Lincoln becoming president.
“The organization will continue. We have a lot of education that I think needs to be done.”
Know someone who can handle Three Questions? We're looking for behind-the-scenes-but-still fascinating Miami Valley residents with something to say. Send your suggestions to tom.gnau@coxinc.com.
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