WHAT:  Rededication of Judiciary Square’s Abraham Lincoln statue, one of the nation’s oldest existing memorials to the legendary president. The statue was moved to accommodate a major renovation of the Historic Courthouse which is now nearing conclusion.  In preparation for the upcoming reopening of that great building, the statue has been meticulously cleaned and restored, and will be re-erected in this bicentennial year of Lincoln’s birth on the same date it was originally installed in 1868 and then re-installed in 1923. 
 
WHEN:  Wednesday, April 15, 2009, 3:00 pm  
 
WHERE:  South Portico, Historic Courthouse 400 block, Indiana Avenue, NW 
 
WHO:  Chief Judge Eric T. Washington, District of Columbia Court of Appeals; Dr. Edna Greene Medford, Associate Professor of History, Howard University; Chandler Nutall, 2nd-grader, Henson Valley Montessori School 
 
The iconic statue, funded by DC residents grieving over the assassination of the President, was originally unveiled on April 15, 1868, three years after Lincoln’s death.  Over twenty percent of Washington’s residents attended that unveiling, as well as President Andrew Johnson and General William T. Sherman. The marble statue was sculpted by Lot Flannery, and was originally set atop a marble column over 30 feet high. 
 
In 1919, when the courthouse (formerly the District of Columbia City Hall) underwent a renovation, the statue and column were dismantled and put into storage. The statue was then re-erected on April 15, 1923, this time on a low pedestal.     The statue was again moved off-site in 2006 to allow for the expansion and renovation of the historic courthouse. Designed by noted preservation firm Beyer Blinder Belle Architects & Planners, the project will provide much-needed space for the Courts while bringing new life to one of the most significant historic buildings and green spaces in Washington, DC The building will reopen in late April 2009 with a dedication ceremony in June. 
 
President Lincoln signed the DC Emancipation Act on April 16, 1862, freeing all those held as slaves in Washington, DC  Thus his statue is being re-dedicated on April 15, 2009, one hundred and forty-one years to the day after it was originally installed and just one day before DC Emancipation Day.