Senator Durbin Announces Lincoln Grants

Speaking on the campus of Knox College, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) announced on Friday, Feb. 18, the awarding of $490,000 in federal funding to the Looking for Lincoln Heritage Coalition. The community-based tourism initiative is being developed by cities throughout Illinois with historical ties to Abraham Lincoln.

"Illinois is the Land of Lincoln and the Looking for Lincoln Heritage Coalition allows communities with limited resources to work together to tell the story of our nation's greatest president," Durbin said in his announcement. Durbin spoke in the Alumni Room in Knox College's Old Main, the only building that remains from the historic Lincoln-Douglas Debates of 1858.

Senator Durbin said that his goal is to "let each community tell its unique story, so tourists have the opportunity to visit a series of historic places that can provide a complete look at Lincoln's life in Illinois."

So far, a dozen communities are participating in Looking for Lincoln, placing wayside markers at locations significant to Lincoln history in Illinois -- including one at Old Main on the Knox campus. 38 more cities have applied to the program.

Durbin stated that he also has introduced legislation to establish the Abraham Lincoln National Heritage Area, that would bring as much as $10-million in grants for historic preservation, education, tourism and economic development in 41 counties in Central Illinois.

"Designating a National Heritage Area will allows us to bind together the elements of Lincoln's life in Illinois and tell the whole Lincoln story to our students, families and visitors," Durbin said.

Founded in 1837, Knox is a national liberal arts college in Galesburg, Illinois, with students from 45 states and 44 nations. Knox's "Old Main" is a National Historic Landmark and the only building remaining from the 1858 Lincoln-Douglas debates.