The auction, hosted by Freeman’s on Thursday, included pieces from a $23 million purchase made in 2007 by a foundation dedicated to acquiring rare Lincoln relics for the museum.
Among the items was a velvet-lined framed portrait of John Wilkes Booth, Lincoln’s assassin, which contained several strands of hair believed to have been plucked from Booth’s head after he was killed in 1865. The piece sold for $7,000, falling below its estimated value.
Other notable pieces included a bust of Lincoln biographer Carl Sandburg once owned by Marilyn Monroe, which sold for $1,300, and a bust of Ulysses Grant that fetched $2,000. The top-selling item was a rare 34-star eagle parade flag, which went for $220,000, far exceeding the $100,000 mark.
These artifacts, many of which were part of the 2007 Taper acquisition, come after a strained relationship between the Lincoln Presidential Foundation and the Lincoln Presidential Museum.
While the foundation was established to acquire unique Lincoln relics for the museum, disagreements over the authenticity of key items, like a stovepipe hat supposedly belonging to Lincoln led to the sale of several items.
Though the foundation has not confirmed whether the sale of these items is part of an effort to repay debt from the 2007 purchase, it marks a significant chapter in the history of the Lincoln collection, raising questions about the future of the museum’s displays.
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