Mary Todd Lincoln visits Brookfield Library

Acclaimed Racine actress Jessica Michna brings her one-woman, first person presentation of the widowed Mary Todd Lincoln to the Brookfield Library, 1900N. Calhoun Road on Thursday May 21. The performance will begin at 7:00 PM

After the assassination of her husband, Abraham, Mary Lincoln was an unsettled spirit. She had lived in New York, Chicago and even Europe, but could never find rest. Mary had lost three of her four sons and suffered estrangement from her eldest, Robert. Set upon by creditors, plagued by declining health and always weighed down by her overwhelming grief, Mrs. Lincoln had become a sad and dejected figure. This was a far cry from the youthful woman who had captured all of the hearts of Springfield in 1837. Mrs. Lincoln’s life has come full circle as she returns to Springfield, Illinois to take up residence with her sister Elizabeth. She recalls the days of her girlhood in the genteel society of Lexington, Kentucky, her marriage to the gangly young lawyer, and eventually her rise to become the First Lady.