Indiana group finalist for Lincoln artifacts

FORT WAYNE, Ind. -- An Indiana group that wants to keep the collection of a recently closed Abraham Lincoln museum in the state says it is a finalist to receive the artifacts.

The Allen County Public Library and the Indiana State Museum are part of a group seeking to share the collection owned by the Lincoln Financial Foundation. Cheryl Ferverda of the Allen County library said the group learned Wednesday that the group was a finalist to obtain the items.

The Lincoln foundation, citing poor attendance, closed its 77-year-old museum in Fort Wayne last month and decided to give away its collection, valued at $20 million.

The artifacts on the 16th president include a copy of the Emancipation Proclamation, Lincoln family belongings, manuscripts, photographs and period items. Lincoln lived in Indiana from age 7 until moving to Illinois when he was 21.

A group from Washington, D.C., which includes the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History and the Library of Congress, also submitted a proposal seeking the items.

Lincoln Financial Foundation spokeswoman Annette Moser would not say how many proposals it received or how many were considered finalists.

She said the foundation was informing interested groups whether they were finalists and would not release more information until it selects a new home for the collection late this year or in early 2009.