Lincoln museum to display iconic stovepipe hat

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — A stovepipe hat worn by Abraham Lincoln is going on display at the Springfield library and museum that bear his name.

The hat will be displayed along with a scrap of paper on which Lincoln wrote his idea of democracy, which included the words: “As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master.”

Museum officials say it’s possible that Lincoln stored the scrap of paper inside the band of his beaver-fur hat.

Lincoln was known to tuck letters inside his hatband, but officials say they’ll leave it to museum visitors to judge whether they believe the note’s folds suggest it once was carried there.

The items will be on display at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum for about six months beginning Wednesday.