School History

Our school was built in 1958 in the former Joyland Amusement Park area. It was named for Abraham Lincoln's wife, who was born and raised in Lexington. An addition to the school was built in 1960, and the latest renovation was completed in late 2012.

About Mary Todd

Mary Todd was born Dec. 13, 1818, in Lexington. She married politician and lawyer Abraham Lincoln on Nov. 4, 1842. When the Civil War began, Mary's family supported the South, but she remained a fervent Unionist. After her husband's assassination, Mary fell into a deep depression and her surviving son, Robert Todd Lincoln, had her temporarily committed. She died in 1882.

During her White House years, Mary Lincoln faced many personal difficulties generated by political divisions within the nation. Her family was from a border state where slavery was permitted. Several of her half-brothers served in the Confederate army and were killed in action, and one brother served the Confederacy as a surgeon.

Mary staunchly supported her husband in his quest to save the Union and was strictly loyal to his policies. Considered a westerner although she had grown up in the more refined Upper South city of Lexington, Mary worked hard to serve as her husband's first lady in Washington, D.C., a political center dominated by eastern and southern culture. Lincoln was regarded as the first western president, and critics described Mary's manners as coarse and pretentious. She had difficulty negotiating White House social responsibilities and rivalries, spoils-seeking solicitors, and baiting newspapers in a climate of high national intrigue in Civil War Washington. She refurbished the White House, which included extensive redecorating of all the public and private rooms as well as the purchase of new china, which led to extensive overspending. The president was angry about the cost, even though Congress eventually passed two additional appropriations to cover these expenses.

Citation

Mary Todd Lincoln (2017, Sept. 23). Retrieved Oct. 19, 2017

Mary Todd Lincoln (2017, April 28). Retrieved Oct. 19, 2017