Lincoln Exhibit Shows His Role in Saving Mission

To spotlight the role that Abraham Lincoln played in preserving Mission San Juan Capistrano, the historic landmark is presenting a special exhibit today and Sunday of personal items and documents of the 16th president.

“This is our way of remembering that Lincoln saved the mission,” administrator Jerry Miller said. “If he hadn’t stepped in, it could have ended up as a state park or worse.”

Built in 1776, the mission was taken over in 1833 by the Mexican government and then sold to private parties. It later became a target for looters and fell into disrepair.

In March 1865, a month before he was assassinated, Lincoln saw what he considered a gross injustice occurring at the mission and deeded it back to the Catholic Church. The exhibit includes the original documents signed by Lincoln returning the mission to the church.

“He normally wouldn’t have signed the documents,” Miller said. “But Lincoln was intrigued by the mission.”

The documents, in the mission’s archives since 1965, have never been displayed to the public, he said.

The exhibit also includes artifacts and personal items, including one of Lincoln’s famous stovepipe hats, the mate to the Derringer pistol owned by John Wilkes Booth that was used to assassinate Lincoln, an 1865 newspaper report of the assassination and a plaster cast of Lincoln’s face.

The artifacts were lent to the mission by three different collectors, Miller said.

As part of today’s commemoration, actors in period costumes will portray events in the history of the 220-year-old mission, and the California Volunteer Infantry will conduct military drills starting at 10 a.m.

The exhibit is open from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. both days at 31522 Camino Capistrano. Admission is $4 for adults and $3 for seniors and children.

If interest is great enough, Miller said, the exhibit may be extended through next week.

Information: (714) 248-2049.