Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum News


	For Immediate Release: June 26, 2009	Contact: David Blanchette (217) 558-8970
	What does that Lincoln statue say? Author of book about Lincoln monuments to sign books July 17 at Presidential Museum Gift Store SPRINGFIELD IL — The author of a new book about the meaning of Abraham Lincoln monuments across the country will hold a book signing Friday, July 17 from 11 a.m. to noon in the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum Gift Shop. The signing is open to the public, and Museum admission is not required. James A. Percoco is the author of Summers with Lincoln: Looking for the Man in the Monuments, a highly acclaimed book that serves as a roving classroom, using sculptures across the country to unravel the Lincoln myth and history. Percoco's first book, A Passion for the Past: Creative Teaching of U.S. History received the 2000 James Harvey Robinson Prize from the American Historical Association. Percoco was selected for the first USA Today All-USA Teacher Team in 1998 and was named Outstanding Social Studies Teacher of the Year in 1993 during the Walt Disney American Teacher Awards. He served on the Board of Trustees for the National Council for History Education from 1998 – 2004 and received the Archivist's Award of Achievement in 1993 while serving as an educational consultant for the National Archives and Records Administration. Percoco has also been an educational consultant for the National Gallery of Art, the National Park Service, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, and the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission. Copies of Percoco's books may be purchased in the Gift Shop. Visitors may also view a photographic exhibit by artist Ron Schramm of all Lincoln statues in Illinois, which may be seen through September 30 in the Presidential Library. Visit www.presidentlincoln.org for more information on exhibits and programs at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum. ###