Abraham Lincoln's Birthday (which is NOT officially part of President's Day)
In case you are not already aware, the federal holiday coming up this 3-day weekend is "Washington's Birthday", NOT Presidents Day (that was a term developed by retail marketers to explain why we celebrate it as a 3-day weekend by purchasing stuff!). So this is a quick post to feature resources on the guy whose birthday it is TODAY - Abraham Lincoln!
Jay LeBlanc
2/12/20262 min read
As I noted above, this is just a quick post to feature some resources on today's birthday boy - Abraham Lincoln. People may not be aware that Lincoln (at least officially) is not part of this coming 3-day weekend. What marketers now call "Presidents Day" is still officially "Washington's Birthday", and has been since it was made a federal holiday in 1885 (only the 5th national holiday at that point, after New Year's Day, Independence Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day).
The only reason it is now between Lincoln's Birthday (2/12) and Washington's Birthday (2/22) was the passage of the Uniform Monday Holiday Act in the 1960s, which changed several holidays into 3-day weekends (and positioned the observance of "Washington's Birthday" for the 3rd Monday of the month of February). For the math scholars among you, note that February 22nd can NEVER be the third Monday of the month - therefore "Washington's Birthday" can never actually be observed on Washington's birthday!
Anyway, back to Abraham Lincoln's birthday. I thought I would simply share some general information links and a few articles discussing the significance of Abraham Lincoln's presidency in various ways, then include a slightly longer list of lesson plans for him. Because he is one of the American leaders who gets covered at all levels of the K-12 curriculum (elementary, middle school, and high school) - thought it was worth getting a good mix into this post.
Let me start with the article about Presidents Day/President's Day/Presidents' Day that I quoted several items from above:
"14 Fascinating Presidents' Day Facts You'll Be Surprised to Learn", Country Living, Feb 2025, https://www.countryliving.com/life/a63742380/presidents-day-history-guide/
General Information/Sources on Abraham Lincoln:
Basic link to the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum - https://presidentlincoln.illinois.gov/
I would particularly point out their Teaching Guides - https://presidentlincoln.illinois.gov/learn/educators/educator-resources/teaching-guides/
Abraham Lincoln Papers at the Library of Congress - https://www.loc.gov/collections/abraham-lincoln-papers/about-this-collection/
Ford's Theatre National Historic Site - https://www.nps.gov/foth/index.htm AND Ford's Theater Museum - https://fords.org
Probably not a surprise, but they have a good set of resources on the assassination - https://fords.org/lincolns-assassination/
Lincoln Memorial, National Park System - https://www.nps.gov/linc/index.htm
Articles About Lincoln and His Impact:
"Abraham Lincoln In His Time and Ours" (a collection of essays), Gilder-Lehrman Institute for American History, Winter 2008, https://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-now/journals/abraham-lincoln-his-time-and-ours
"Interview: James M. McPherson / The Lincoln Legacy", HistoryNet, updated Aug 2018, https://www.historynet.com/lincoln-legacy-civil-war-times-interview/
"Lincoln's Legacy: The Eloquent President", National Park Service, Aug 2025, https://www.nps.gov/foth/lincoln-s-legacy-the-eloquent-president.htm
"Meet the Black Men Who Changed Lincoln’s Mind About Equal Rights", Smithsonian Magazine, Jan 2022, https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/men-changed-changing-lincolns-mind-180979230/
"Why We Keep Reinventing Abraham Lincoln", The New Yorker, Sep 2020, https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/09/28/why-we-keep-reinventing-abraham-lincoln
Lesson Plans Related to Abraham Lincoln and his Presidency:
"Abe’s Childhood Adventures" (K-5 lesson plan), National Park Service, Jul 2024, https://home.nps.gov/teachers/classrooms/abe-s-childhood-adventures.htm
"Abraham Lincoln" (collection of lesson plans, mostly secondary), Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, https://presidentlincoln.illinois.gov/educator-resources/lesson-plans
"Abraham Lincoln and the Emancipation Proclamation" (secondary lesson plan), Bill of Rights Institute, https://billofrightsinstitute.org/lessons/abraham-lincoln-and-the-emancipation-proclamation/
"Abraham Lincoln documentary miniseries (3-part)", History Channel, 2022, https://www.history.com/shows/abraham-lincoln
"Abraham Lincoln: Man versus Legend" (lesson plan), PBS, https://www.pbs.org/opb/historydetectives/educators/lessonplan/abraham-lincoln-man-versus-legend/index.html
"Abraham Lincoln Primary Source Highlights" (includes lesson plans, online exhibitions, and primary source materials), Gilder-Lehrman Institute of American History, https://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-resources/teacher-resources/abraham-lincoln-highlights
"Lincoln's Springfield: Lesson Plans and Activities" (K-8 lesson plans), Lincoln Home National Historic Site, https://www.lincolnpresidential.org/lincoln-resources/lesson-plans/
"Young Abe Lincoln Lesson Plan" (K-5 lesson plan/materials), Scholastic, Feb 2021, https://letsfindout.scholastic.com/issues/2020-21/020321/lesson-plan.html