There are a half-dozen statues of Abraham Lincoln in Gettysburg. It is no wonder, because Gettysburg was where the public recognized that the Union was winning the war in early July of 1863 and it was where Lincoln gave his iconic Gettysburg Address. One of the most photographed statues in Gettysburg is the Return Visit of Lincoln with a modern tourist! The two statues are in the central square where Baltimore Street intersects Hanover Road. If you have ever been to Gettysburg, you doubtless saw it. The group is across from the Gettysburg Hotel right next to the Willis House, where Lincoln stayed the night before he delivered his famous speech at the National Cemetery just a short ways away.
Return Visit was sculpted by J. Seward Johnson in 1991. In 2022, the statues were removed for restoration and they were re-erected. They look brand new.
Unlike other statues in Gettysburg, visitors have a more relaxed view of this monument. Many people have posed alongside Lincoln as though he was leading a tour of downtown Gettysburg. During the pandemic, people placed facemasks over the two statues’ noses and mouths.
Lincoln and the “Modern Man” are dressed for Fall, a memory of when Lincoln gave his Gettysburg Address in November 1863.
The sculptor made eight large-size duplicates which he has exhibited around the country. One duplicate statue was in Chicago when the Cubs won the World Series. During the celebration, Modern Man was decked out in a Cubs jersey!
A sign nearby describes the monument.
According to the Lincoln Fellowship; “Historian and Lincoln expert Gabor Boritt and other specialists supplied Johnson with detailed information including photographs, shoe size, hat measurements, analysis of Lincoln’s clothing, and bronze copies of plaster casts made of his face and hands.”
Below you can see the title of the work, along with the shoes of the two featured players.
If you are in Gettysburg, stop by this monument where you can pose your kids next to it as though they were being shown around town by Lincoln.
