In addition to supporting an annual Lincoln Contest, the Schwengel Lincoln Fund and Collection includes an outstanding array of artwork, books, and memorabilia devoted to the sixteenth President.  Numbering in the thousands, the collection celebrates the life and ideals of Abraham Lincoln.

The Schwengel Lincoln Collection has continued to grow since the first donations in 1976. It contains books, pamphlets, periodicals, recordings, paintings, drawings, prints, busts, postage stamps, and many other types of items, all related to Abraham Lincoln.  Several especially interesting items are seven large charcoal drawings of scenes from Lincoln’s life in Illinois by Helen Hinrichsen, once a student of Grant Wood; a life mask by Leonard Wells Volk; and a large study by Allyn Cox for a U.S. Capitol mural depicting Lincoln with the Capitol architects.