The Thomas Lincoln family crossed the Ohio River from Kentucky about the time Indiana became a state. This presentation by historian and Evansville Museum Board of Trustees President William Bartelt on Sunday, July 24 at 2:00 p.m. will examine how the Lincoln family is representative of the men and women who formed the state in those early years of statehood. It will also consider the importance of the Ohio River in shaping the settlement of Indiana and influencing its early citizens.

Bartelt taught social studies for 37 years and is the author of the book There I Grew Up: Remembering Abraham Lincoln’s Indiana Youth. He has spent decades immersed in learning and teaching about the life of the 16^th president. He was employed as a ranger and historian at Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial for over 15 summers. He is currently a member of the Indiana Library and Historical Board, a Director of the Abraham Lincoln Association, a member of the Friends of the Lincoln Collection of Indiana board of directors, a trustee of the Indiana Historical Society; and is a past President of the Newburgh Museum Foundation.