Gary Parzych pictured with The Harlan-Lincoln House board members before the presentation.
Hildene’s Gary Parzych Speaks at Harlan-Lincoln House in Iowa
By Gary Parzych, Exhibits and Collections Director
As I sat on the front porch of The Harlan-Lincoln House and enjoyed the view, I couldn’t help but think about my friends back at Hildene who all know the story about the Lincolns summering in Iowa and later in Vermont. Although my weekend in Mt. Pleasant was short lived, it was full of fascinating stories and new (to me) information about those summers. Just being there was a surreal experience. Suddenly, the various pictures in Hildene’s archival collection became real; still moments captured in black and white became animated. Having studied a lifetime’s worth of snapshots at this place from children growing up, to family photos on the lawn, just being there made the long trip worthwhile.
The home was built by Mary Harlan Lincoln’s father, U.S. Senator James Harlan, in 1854. Following his death in 1899, the home belonged to Mary, who used it for several years until she donated it to the nearby the nearby Iowa Wesleyan University, in 1907. It was used by the school for various purposes until its transfer to the non-profit The Harlan-Lincoln House Inc. in 2023. The family home is perfectly located just steps away from the former Iowa Wesleyan University in the middle of Mt. Pleasant, a park-like, pastoral town in the southeast part of the state. Although the school has closed, almost all the buildings remain, including a life-size bronze statue of Senator Harlan that previously resided in the Hall of Columns at the United States Capitol.
A bronze statue of Senator James Harlan stands in front of the University Chapel.
The gold domed building behind the Chapel is “Old Main” one of the structures that Harlan built during his presidency with the school.
The Harlan-Lincoln House in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa.
The board at The Harlan-Lincoln House generously invited me to come out, tour their home, and share a bit about Hildene with their community. When I arrived, I was met by the warmest welcome party where we spent the evening sharing stories and learning from each other. The next day, June 5th, was the day of Hildene’s presentation. I spent that morning touring through the Henry County Heritage Center, a museum and archive space, run by volunteers who are passionate about tangibly preserving the history of Henry County, and making it accessible to all. I was in awe as I walked through the many rooms filled with Henry County artifacts, including some from the Harlan and Beckwith families.
Later, I met Lynn Ellsworth, the President of the Board for a tour of The Harlan-Lincoln House. Although we spent several hours together, it was still not enough. We walked through Senator Harlan’s library and bedroom, the parlor, and the upstairs bedrooms while comparing stories and hearing lots about the Harlans and the Lincolns in this home. I got to see the door where Mamie, Jack, and Jessie marked their heights as they grew taller each year. I also got to see the hauntingly beautiful mourning veils from Mary Todd Lincoln and Mary Harlan Lincoln. My favorite take away from the home was imagining all the peaceful summers the family enjoyed both within the walls and around the town, which is full of related sites like Camp Harlan (a Civil War training camp that Harlan arranged), Warren Beckwith’s childhood home, and the Harlan House Hotel (another home where Senator Harlan lived, which he later turned into a hotel).
Warren Beckwith’s childhood home
Harlan House Hotel (Senator Harlan’s home, seen in between the two later additions which later made up the Harlan House Hotel)
Our presentation was held in another historic building called the Union Block. The building is the site where Arabella Babb Mansfield became the first female lawyer in the United States. There were many other distinguished people throughout history who appeared in the Union Block’s meeting hall: Senator James Harlan, Fredrick Douglass, Sojourner Truth, Anna Dickenson, and Henry Clay Dean. What an honor to speak there!
Hildene cares for several photographs taken during the Lincolns time in Iowa, like this photo shown during the presentation, of Lincoln Isham on a small horse just outside The Harlan-Lincoln House.
Robert Lincoln’s bedframe was a gift from his father-in-law.
Hildene’s presentation in this building saw about 100 guests. Most who attended were curious to learn more about what life was like for the Lincolns in the Northeast. We looked at a range of family photographs in our archival collection, many of which were taken in Iowa. Together, we also looked at some of the other Harlan related artifacts that the Lincolns left behind in Vermont, like Senator Harlan’s notebooks, and his bedframe which was gifted to Robert Lincoln. We finished up with a closer look at what Hildene is today, and how visitors can interact with the Harlan family history even in Vermont.
Thank you to The Harlan-Lincoln House community for such a warm welcome, and to Lynn Ellsworth, John Bennet, Pat White, and Hildene, The Lincoln Family Home for making this trip possible.
To learn more about the sites I visited during my time in Iowa, click the links below:
https://harlanlincoln.org/
https://www.henrycountyheritagetrust.org/
