SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – A statue of John Wilkes Booth has been removed from outside of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in the Illinois capital of Springfield.
Spokesman Christopher Wills told the (Springfield) State Journal-Register (http://bit.ly/2p8ORia ) that the statue of Lincoln's assassin had stood in the plaza outside the museum and library since it opened in 2005. He says officials "felt any potential glorification, even if unintentional, was not acceptable."
Wills says the museum's executive director, Alan Lowe, consulted with Illinois state historian Sam Wheeler and decided the statue was inappropriate. It was removed last week and put in storage.
He says Booth's significant part in Lincoln's life and death is told elsewhere in the museum.
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Information from: The State Journal-Register, http://www.sj-r.com
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