The Southwestern Michigan College Board of Trustees heard a report at its regularly scheduled meeting on the Dowagiac campus May 18 on seven students’ Land of Lincoln extended learning experience April 17-19.

Their Illinois weekend followed April 15’s 150th anniversary of President Abraham Lincoln’s assassination.

Lea Aurenz, Thomas Creameans, Lillian Haines, Abigail Harrison, Victoria Hughes, Joanne Phelps and Jay Roder joined the trip led by Professors Dr. Jeffrey and Tasha Dennis.

Roder was amazed to discover from political cartoons how unpopular Lincoln remained much of his life.

“I gained a better understanding of President Lincoln and troubles our country faced at the time,” Roder said. “I had no idea it was so twisted and disheveled — even in the North — about slavery.”

SMC started at New Salem, a reconstructed pioneer village 20 miles northwest of Springfield where Lincoln lived from 1831, when he was 22, until 1837.

New Salem thrived, with a blacksmith, cooper (barrel maker), grocer, carpenter, cobbler (shoemaker), milliner (hat maker) and tanner.

Four general stores, a church and a school served New Salem until it became an abandoned ghost town when Springfield became the fifth capital.

The Civilian Conservation Corps recreated the log community in the 1930s.

Harrison learned to card wool with a New Salem re-enactor, but her favorite exhibit was “statues of a slave family being forcibly separated,” feeling grateful “our society has come so far in equality among individuals.”

The group spent three hours touring New Salem’s 23 log buildings, taking in demonstrations of textile production, loading and firing a .69-caliber flintlock musket and storekeeping.

“It was a perfect spring day,” Dennis said. “Our guides, in full period regalia, showed great enthusiasm relating the history of New Salem and Lincoln’s life in the village.”

New Salem was where Lincoln came of age as an ambitious man of unimpeachable integrity. It wasn’t easy. He failed as a storekeeper, amassing debts it took years to repay. But he persevered, took up surveying, became New Salem postmaster and studied law.

Lincoln lost his first state Legislature bid, but succeeded in 1834 as the Whig Party nominee, serving four consecutive terms.

SMC saw “Mr. Lincoln” with actor John O’Connor’s monologue summarizing his life using the President’s own words.

Saturday began with a self-guided tour of the Old Illinois State Capitol, where Lincoln served in the House (1834-42), presented hundreds of cases as a lawyer before the Supreme Court, delivered his famous 1858 “House Divided” speech, directed his 1860 presidential campaign and laid in state.

Son Robert left Lincoln’s home in the 1880s to the state, which relinquished it in 1971 to the National Park Service, which rebuilt a four-block area.

The home includes two parlors for formal entertainment, a family room, a kitchen with a cast-iron stove, adjoining his-and-her bedrooms (replicating original ornate wallpaper) and six additional sleeping and dining rooms.

After dinner the group walked Springfield residential streets, as Lincoln might have while his family lived on Eighth Street during 1844-61.

Creameans, an aspiring history teacher, reveled in the New Salem state historic site and touring Lincoln’s residence.

“To be able to walk in a home an American hero once lived in is indescribable,” Creameans said. “I recommend this field trip to anyone.”

The Grand Army of the Republic Museum honoring Union Civil War veterans is a short walk from Lincoln’s home.

Lincoln’s tomb, completed in 1931, is massive. Visitors stroll long corridors adorned with sculptures, reliefs and 48 gold stars to reach the rotunda.

Ten feet of concrete encase Lincoln’s coffin to thwart grave robbers from exhuming his corpse, as almost happened in 1876.

With the Lincoln-Herndon Law Office closed for reconstruction, SMC ended Saturday relaxing at Washington Park Botanical Gardens.

Sunday morning started with the 405-foot, silvery-domed Capitol, taller than any other state’s — or the U.S. Capitol in Washington, for that matter.

SMC saw the Supreme Court chamber, Senate and House galleries and were shown Gov. Bruce Rauner’s office.

“The rotunda is amazing,” Dennis said. “Its base includes masterful bronze castings of the state’s historical progression. Despite its grandeur, the Capitol was completed under budget in 1889.”

At the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum, “We were serenaded with a Civil War-era concert attended by U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin,” Dennis said.

It includes a full-scale diorama of Lincoln’s birthplace, portions of the White House and his Ford’s Theatre box.

A “Campaign of 1860” newscast illustrates how Lincoln won despite receiving less than 40 percent of the popular vote.

“Ghosts of the Library” and “Lincoln’s Eyes” use holograms.

“For me, mere dates and accounts of events can be dry, but being in the places where he worked and lived with his family really brought him to life,” Phelps said.

Haines enjoyed examining multiple original copies of the Emancipation Proclamation, arguably the most important Executive Order ever issued.

“I really liked all of the exhibits,” she said, “but I most liked The White House Years.”

“I thoroughly enjoyed our weekend excursion to Illinois,” Hughes said. “I made five new friends and built upon three pre-existing friendships. The trip gave me a new perspective and appreciation for history. There were so many cool things to see, do and experience.”

“Student engagement is key for student success. Dr. Dennis is creating learning experiences that will impact students forever,” Board of Trustees Chairman Thomas F. Jerdon said.