David Wiegers
David Wiegers
President Barack Obama is only one of a huge community of Abraham Lincoln admirers. Growing up in Illinois, especially his hometown of Decatur with their proud Lincoln heritage, stimulated David Wiegers’ decision to write a book with the working title, “A Life Worth Remembering – The Monumental Legacy of Abraham Lincoln.”
Wiegers book, which he will continue working on through 2009, details statues and memorials to Abraham Lincoln. He has visited and photographed over 200 Lincoln works in the U.S, traveling to Hawaii to photograph a statue near Pearl Harbor as part of a 25,000-mile journey of more than 30 states. He will include statues that are being erected for the Bicentennial. Wiegers’ work has been featured in the Chicago Tribune, American Art Review and the book, “Summers with Lincoln,” by Jim Percoco. He will be part of a promotion of a new bicentennial film on Lincoln, “Looking for Lincoln,” which is included in an interactive Google map on one of New York City’s PBS stations. Wiegers’ photos are also part of a traveling exhibit on Lincoln, “Portraying Lincoln – A Man of Many Faces,” which opened this month at the Historical Museum in Washington, D.C.
Wiegers, a ’73 business graduate, said Decatur was Lincoln’s first home after his father and stepmother left Indiana, and there were three statues of Lincoln in the city. He also remembers his parents and five siblings making the Lincoln pilgrimage to Springfield to Lincoln’s home and to New Salem. Wiegers said his grandmother was an early advocate for his interest in history, Lincoln and the Civil War.
“The last books published on the subject of Lincoln statues were released in the early 1950s and are now long out of print,” Wiegers said. “My book project should add to the knowledge base on the subject of how the memory and legacy of Abraham Lincoln is kept in the minds of the world through these statues and memorials. I am proud that I have been able to document some statues of Lincoln that were heretofore not documented. The title of my book comes from the Mt. Rushmore sculptor Gutzon Borglum quote, ‘Every statue should tell a story. It should portray a moment in our nation’s history or a man’s life that is worth remembering.’”
“My general interest in photography goes back to my high school days at Eisenhower H.S. in Decatur. I was finally hooked when I took a photography class at Illinois State. My father bought me an inexpensive 35mm camera to use for that class.”
Wiegers accomplishes all his photography on weekends and vacations. For the past 15 years, he has worked at Sensus Metering Systems as a sales representative and district manager. The company manufactures utility meters and electronic systems to read meters for the water, gas and electric industries. He and his wife of 30 years, Wendy, live in Gurnee, Ill. They have three children, one of whom will graduate from Illinois State this spring, and two grandchildren.
Wiegers remembers studying and playing cards his first two years in Manchester Hall and Watterson Towers, visiting the Union or the library, spending warm spring days on the quad and weekends at the Red Lion.
“My time at ISU forged most of my longest friendships,” Wiegers said. “I lived in a co-op house called LaVista for two years, and the guys (and eventually girls) at LaVista were a very tight family. I still hold wonderful feelings about those folks even today–25 years later. We organized a reunion a few years ago and had a remarkable turnout. It is just astonishing how old friends were reconnected and shared memories of our days at Illinois State.”
