Autographed Lincoln Photo Displayed In Green Bay

Green Bay’s Neville Public Museum is displaying a rare autographed photograph of Abraham Lincoln.The picture depicts the president with his son Tad.Louise Pfotenhauer is the museum’s curator of exhibits.She says the print was taken by the studios of the famed Civil War photographer Matthew Brady, though Brady himself did not take the picture.It dates to 1864 and is only one of two in existence.The other is in private hands.

Pfotenhauer says the museum is displaying it to coincide with the popularity of Steven Speilberg’s movie, “Lincoln.”

“The Lincoln movie is getting such rave reviews and is nominated for 12 academy awards I understand,” she says.”We are going to keep the photo up through the Academy Awards which is February 24th.And then it will have to go away, back away, into storage so it can rest.”

The picture is an albumen print and is very sensitive to light.

The Lincoln portrait was among a number of artifacts acquired by a local historic preservation group in 2007 and put on permanent loan to the museum.