Smith, Jack L.,

South Bend, Indiana, businessman Jack Smith began collecting images of Abraham Lincoln in 1959. Through the ensuing years, Smith collected 752 items relating to the sixteenth president, one of the largest collections of Lincoln images anywhere. These items give a picture history of Lincoln's life, from his humble beginnings to his presidency and his lasting image as an American icon. Many of the items in the collection were created during Lincoln's lifetime; others were created shortly after his assassination and in the years since. The collectiion provides insight into how Lincoln was portrayed as a politician, a family man, and as a national martyr.