February 18, 2021 submitted by the Hingham Historical Society (photo courtesy of Old Ship Church)
The Hingham Historical Society invites residents of Hingham and the South Shore—and history lovers everywhere—to participate in Hingham’s 45th annual Lincoln Day on Saturday, February 19, 2020. Lincoln Day commemorates two famous Lincolns with Hingham roots: Benjamin Lincoln, Major General in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War, was a life-long Hingham resident, and Abraham Lincoln, our 16th President, was a descendant of Samuel Lincoln, who settled in Hingham in 1637. On Lincoln Day, we honor this local history and celebrate civic awareness and engagement.
The day’s events are free and open to the public.
This year’s Lincoln Day celebration will begin at 10:15am with a muster of the Hingham Militia Company at the Memorial Bell Tower next to Old Ship Church on Hingham’s Main Street and military salutes at General Lincoln’s tomb and Governor Andrew’s grave in Hingham Cemetery. At 11:00am, the proceedings will move inside for a program led by the Rev. Kenneth Read-Brown of Hingham’s First Parish, with participation by elected state and local representatives, the Military Order of the Loyal Legion, the 22nd Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Company and the Massachusetts 54th Regiment Company A. Musical selections throughout the program and the winners of this year’s Hingham Public Schools 8th grade Lincoln Day essay contest will be announced and invited to join us in the ceremonies.
Michael Burlingame holder of the Chancellor Naomi B. Lynn Distinguished Chair in Lincoln Studies at the University of Illinois Springfield is this year’s Lincoln Day speaker. Burlingame is the author of many books including “The Black Man’s President”: Abraham Lincoln, African Americans, and the Pursuit of Racial Equality published in November by Pegasus Books/Simon & Schuster. Burlingame taught at Connecticut College in New London for many years before joining the faculty at the University of Illinois Springfield in 2009. The Atlantic rated Burlingame’s two volume Abraham Lincoln: A Life one of the five best books of the year when it was published in 2009.
This program will be followed by a procession to the Abraham Lincoln statue in Fountain Square for the laying of wreaths; a stop at New North Church, which General Lincoln helped found; and a light meal at the Hingham Heritage Museum, the Society’s headquarters, at 34 Main Street.
For more information, visit: https://hinghamhistorical.org/event/lincoln-day-2022/
This event also has as participants General Benjamin Lincoln’s former command, the Hingham militia company. Although not credited, they have been in every Lincoln Day for 40 years and are depicted in the photo above.