The bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln’s birth on February 12, 1809, was celebrated throughout the year 2009. Born in Kentucky and raised in Indiana, Lincoln was a rail-splitter, storekeeper, soldier, Illinois state legislator, lawyer and U.S. representative before his election as president in 1860. After guiding the Union to victory in the American Civil War and being re-elected for a second term, he was assassinated on April 14, 1865.

The bicentennial commemoration included educational programs, public forums and art projects. For additional information.

The best-known object in the Capitol associated with Abraham Lincoln is the historic catafalque, which was hastily constructed to support the casket in which his remains lay in state in the Rotunda; it has been used for numerous subsequent lyings in state and is now on display in the Exhibition Hall of the Capitol Visitor Center. Other works of art and objects in the Capitol and congressional collections related to Lincoln are illustrated and listed below.

Abraham Lincoln Marble by Vinnie Ream 1871	Abraham Lincoln Marble by Gutzon Borglum 1908	Abraham Lincoln the Legislator Marble by Avard T. Fairbanks 1985
New Dome Symbolizes Union, 1863 Oil on canvas mural by Allyn Cox 1973-1974	Lincoln's Second Inaugural, 1865 Oil on canvas mural by Allyn Cox 1973-1974	President Lincoln Desk Location Marker Bronze 1974; replaced 1999
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Carte de Visite of Lincoln Photograph by Alexander Gardner 1865	Lincoln's First Inauguration Photograph 1861	Lincoln's Second Inauguration Photograph 1865
First Reading of the Emancipation Proclamation Oil on canvas by Francis Bicknell Carpenter 1864 [Exit to U.S. Senate Web site page]	Abraham Lincoln Oil on canvas by Freeman Thorp c.1879 [Exit to U.S. senate Web site page]	Abraham Lincoln Mosaic by Antonio Salviati 1866 [Exit to U.S. Senate Web site page]
Abraham Lincoln Marble by Sarah Fisher Clampitt Ames 1868 [Exit to U.S. Senate Web site page]	Abraham Lincoln Engraving by William Edgar Marshall 1866	Abraham Lincoln Oil on canvas by Ned Bittinger 2005 [Exit to Biographical Directory of the United States Congress Web site page]