Schoolkids across the Springfield area are about to take part in an effort to raise money to purchase a historic Lincoln document as part of the Illinois Bicentennial celebration.
The “Illinois Proud Penny” drive will mirror an effort undertaken by Illinois schoolchildren in the 1940s. This time, local kids will try to collect $15,000 in pennies… that’s one-point-five million coins in order to purchase a document attesting to Abraham Lincoln as a man of good character, a requirement for him to become a lawyer.
More details on the drive will be announced next week, and it officially kicks off on April 16th.