Edward Askew Sothern the play that Abraham Lincoln was watching when he was assassinated. Sothern's role was Lord Dundreary, a caricature of a brainless English nobleman. At first, he was reluctant to accept the role; it was so small and unimportant that he felt it beneath him and feared it might damage his reputation. He mentioned his qualms to his friend, Joseph Jefferson, who had been cast in the leading role of Asa Trenchard in the play. Jefferson supposedly responded with the famous line: "There are no small parts, only small actors." On 15 October 1858, "Our American Cousin" premiered in New York.
Abraham Lincoln Association "The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln" is now available online to the public at the association's website. The association has made many their publications available to the public on this website. On February 12, 2009, the Abraham Lincoln Association led the national celebration of Lincoln's 200th birthday. President Barack Obama was the guest of honor at the Association's birthday banquet on the evening of February 12 in Springfield. He gave a speech titled "What the People Need Done". Lincoln scholar Michael Burlingame also spoke at the banquet. The banquet was co-hosted by the Illinois Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission. The association