By RFD Radio Network
SPRINGFIELD – A new director has been chosen for the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum.
Veteran historian and activist Alan Lowe has landed the post after most recently serving as the first director of the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum in Dallas. Lowe oversaw development, design and construction of the library, which opened in 2013.
Lowe says he didn’t think twice about Illinois budget goes before taking the post.
“The thought of working to preserve and promote the legacy of Abraham Lincoln attracted me, first of all,” said Lowe. “Secondly, we love Springfield, as we got to know the town and it’s been such a welcoming place. I love the facility and the staff is fantastic, so I wasn’t scared, I was excited.”
He also gives high marks to the philosophy behind the museum.
“It’s quite different, frankly, than what we did at Bush,” Lowe said. “At Bush, it was a really interactive exhibit but not as immersive as what you have here in terms of walking around and different environments, so it’s a different approach and a productive and useful approach to present history to folks.”
Lowe also spent time as an archivist at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum, and spent more than a decade in the National Archives’ central Office of Presidential Libraries in Washington, D.C. He later served as acting director of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.
The 52-year-old Kentucky native even has a dog named Lincoln, as well as Theodore Rex, a tribute to Teddy Roosevelt.
