Foundation's role a mystery as Lincoln artifacts are poised to be auctioned off

Artifacts tied to Honest Abe hit the auction block Thursday, with some bearing a striking resemblance to items from a vast collection that a private foundation once acquired for display at the state-run Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum.

The sale at the Chicago-based Freeman’s auction house includes rare manuscripts, documents, and other memorabilia related to the life and legacy of the 16th president.

Some notable items include a bust of Lincoln biographer Carl Sandburg previously owned by Marilyn Monroe, another bust of Ulysses Grant, and locks of hair purportedly taken from the head of Lincoln assassin John Wilkes Booth after he was fatally shot during a manhunt.

These items were once owned by wealthy West Coast historian and Lincoln collector Louise Taper, who sold her collection in 2007 to what now is the Lincoln Presidential Foundation for $23 million with hopes her artifacts would become state property and forever displayed at the state-run presidential museum in Lincoln’s hometown.

Instead, many of her iconic pieces of Lincolniana have landed in the hands of unknown buyers after an auction last May raised nearly $8 million, and more may be going that way imminently.

Taper was sharply critical of that last auction, which included the sale of blood-stained gloves from Lincoln's coat pocket the night he was assassinated. She said she was “appalled” at the foundation’s willingness to sell off pieces of her prized collection.

“My intent was for these historic items to reside in a place for the public to enjoy and learn from,” she told WBEZ last spring.

Neither the foundation nor Freeman’s would confirm whether Thursday’s auction included more items from Taper’s former collection and, if so, what the rationale was behind selling more Lincoln artifacts.

All told, 190 items are for sale, including a handful of relics tied to George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton and Theodore Roosevelt. But Lincoln artifacts represent the bulk of the sale.

“These materials form a powerful narrative of vision and sacrifice — of founders and preservers — presented in a landmark auction honoring the enduring legacy of America’s political leaders,” Freeman’s wrote in an online introduction to the auction.

Unlike at last May's auction, Freeman’s sale bill this time did not identify the foundation as the owner of Lincoln items up for sale. But WBEZ identified several items that appear to be identical to those in the original Taper acquisition.

The station cross-referenced dozens of items’ images and descriptions on the Freeman’s sale bill with an original inventory and photographs of Taper artifacts held by the presidential museum.

A foundation representative Wednesday would not verify whether it was selling off more of its Lincoln collection, though his written statement stopped far short of an outright denial.

"For many years, artifacts and letters associated with Abraham Lincoln have attracted a lot of public attention and interest. As a general practice, the Lincoln Presidential Foundation does not comment on secondary-market activity or sales," foundation spokesman Nick Kalm said.

Marsha Malinowski, a nationally known manuscripts expert based in New York City who was a senior executive at the Sotheby’s auction house for 26 years, said if Taper's items are being sold, the absence of references to the foundation in this auction may stem from her earlier criticism.

“There was a bit of a flurry of press for the first sale with all the material,” she said.

The foundation has said items from Taper’s collection would be sold if outstanding debt could not be paid down.

In 2018, the organization went to the statehouse to lobby for help in offsetting the $9.2 million it owed then on its outstanding acquisition debt.

The foundation insisted without the state’s help, collection items would need to be auctioned to meet an October 2019 loan deadline.

The foundation's efforts to acquire state funding to cover the remaining debt proved unsuccessful, but it did manage to get its loan refinanced for an additional three years.

By 2022, a foundation spokesperson confirmed that the not-for-profit still had a debt exceeding $8 million related to the purchase of the Taper collection.

That year also coincided with the end of a 15-year agreement between the Lincoln Presidential Foundation and the ALPLM that allowed for the display of Taper artifacts at the museum. The collection’s 1,540 items were then removed from display that fall.

In May 2025, 144 items from the collection went up for auction, including a swatch of fabric from a coat Lincoln wore when he was assassinated, and his earliest known handwriting sample from 1824.