State Rep. Tim Butler is calling for the Illinois House to hold hearings on the actions of the Springfield based Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation, in particular it's acquisition of a stovepipe hat said to be worn by Abraham Lincoln. Chicago radio station WBEZ reports failed efforts to authenticate Abraham Lincoln's ownership of a stovepipe hat by the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation were kept secret for years. Butler believes the actions of the foundation are often falsely seen as being the actions of Library and Museum officials...

 

 

 

The hat is the $6.5 million centerpiece of the foundation's $25 million acquisition of Lincoln-related artifacts in 2007. The foundation still owes $9.7 million on a loan used to buy the collection and has begun preparations to auction some items . Meanwhile, library and museum curator James Cornelius has been terminated after previously being on administrative leave since the spring. FBI agents reportedly went to collect DNA samples from the hat in 2015 and WBEZ reports Cornelius encouraged them to pretend to be part of the news media and kept word of the testing secret from library and museum officials.