Name: From Courtroom to Capital: Lincoln's Path to the Presidency
Start: 2026-04-30T19:00:00-05:00
Location: 209 W North St, Normal, IL, United States, Illinois 61761

From Courtroom to Capital: Lincoln’s Path to the Presidency is a short film (18 minutes) about Abraham Lincoln’s time as a lawyer in Illinois. The film examines how Lincoln’s legal career helped launch him to the Presidency in 1860 and how he utilized his legal training as President. The film was created by the Abraham Lincoln National Heritage Area in collaboration with the Abraham Lincoln Association.
This screening is FREE to attend.
A panel discussion will follow the movie with Samuel Wheeler, Lincoln expert and Director of History Programs for the Illinois Supreme Court Historic Preservation Commission; Guy Fraker, retired attorney and author of Lincoln’s Ladder to the Presidency (2012) and Looking for Lincoln in Illinois – A Guide to Lincoln’s 8th Judicial Circuit (2017); and Marcia Young, historian and former Site Manager for the David Davis Mansion and author of David Davis Mansion 1872 – 2022: 150 Years at Clover Lawn..