Last Days for 'Abraham Lincoln in New York' at Federal Hall

Real estate investor Lawrence Benenson, who spreads his philanthropy around in heart-felt and often off-the-radar ways, hosted a reception last night at Federal Hall to celebrate the exhibit "Abraham Lincoln in New York." Mounted by the Rail Splitter, an organization of historians, collectors, and dealers, the show is a fascinating assembly of Lincoln memorabilia, including three "stove top" letters (letters Lincoln was about to put into the fire, had a cabinetmaker watching not stopped him and asked to keep them); ribbons, buttons, and posters from his 1860 presidential campaign (which, according to curator Jonathan Mann, produced more memorabilia than the campaign of 1960); programs for President Lincoln's inaugural ball; and a ticket for President Lincoln's inaugural train. As for the New York connection, there's also the only known surviving ticket for his speech at Cooper Union.

Among the guests Mr. Benenson hosted last night were the New York staff of the National Parks Conservation Association, a membership organization known as "the people's voice for the parks"; an Abraham Lincoln impersonator, Robert Costello; and an artist who bears a striking resemblance to President Lincoln, Joe Jargos, a Brooklynite originally from Flint, Mich. Mr. Jargos said that of all the presidents, he identified with Abraham Lincoln the most, on the matter of height alone. However, his sideburns were not an intentional device to emulate Lincoln. "They're just my healthy in between of having a beard or not," he said.

Lawrence Benenson and Jeffrey Gannon of the National Parks Conservation Association

Joe Jargos, Robert Costello as President Lincoln, and Peter Wadsworth

If you haven't seen the show yet, better hurry: it closes Tuesday (hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., on weekdays), having received a 2-month extension sponsored by Mr. Benenson, who has a couple of items from his private collection in the show. We recommend making this your first National Park site visit of the summer, to be followed by many more (there are 391 National Park sites in America; one summer destination close to home is Gateways National Recreation Area). And save the date of September 27: that's when WNET begins airing a new six-part documentary by Ken Burns, "The National Parks: America's Best Idea."

If you just can't get away from your desk or city life, we highly recommend this piece on the glories (and threats to) natural silence in our parks, published in National Parks Magazine. We picked up a copy of the issue at the reception, and enjoyed it cover to cover.

The NPCA staff in New York with Lincoln impersonator Robert Costello: Jeffrey Gannon, Morgan Robinson, Courtney Bell, and Darcy Shiber-Knowles