Date in History: 1990
The Lincoln Era Library and Exhibit at the Hoard Museum houses over 1,400 books on Abraham Lincoln and the American Civil War. The great majority of these books come from Jerome Slechta, a Jefferson attorney and Civil War buff who donated his impressive Civil War collection to the Fort Atkinson Historical Society back in 1990.
The most impressive piece in Jerry’s collection is the 1860 first-edition volume of the Lincoln Douglas debates signed by Abraham Lincoln. That particular book is often on display at the museum.
This historic document aired on the radio as an Historic Minute on 02/07/2005.