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President Abraham Lincoln, his stovepipe hat by his side, and Gen. George B. McClellan at Antietam, Md., Oct. 3, 1862. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

Lincoln museum to display Abe’s stovepipe hat

Tom Hoepf
Tom Hoepf
President Abraham Lincoln, his stovepipe hat by his side, and Gen. George B. McClellan at Antietam, Md., Oct. 3, 1862. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
President Abraham Lincoln, his stovepipe hat by his side, and Gen. George B. McClellan at Antietam, Md., Oct. 3, 1862. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) – A stovepipe hat worn by Abraham Lincoln is going on display at the Springfield library and museum that bear his name.

The hat will be displayed along with a scrap of paper on which Lincoln wrote his idea of democracy, which included the words: “As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master.”

Museum officials say it’s possible that Lincoln stored the scrap of paper inside the band of his beaver-fur hat.

Lincoln was known to tuck letters inside his hatband, but officials say they’ll leave it to museum visitors to judge whether they believe the note’s folds suggest it once was carried there.

The items, which went on display Wednesday, will continue to be shown at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum for about six months.

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AP-WF-01-23-13 1443GMT

ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE

President Abraham Lincoln, his stovepipe hat by his side, and Gen. George B. McClellan at Antietam, Md., Oct. 3, 1862. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
President Abraham Lincoln, his stovepipe hat by his side, and Gen. George B. McClellan at Antietam, Md., Oct. 3, 1862. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.