Rolland Center Launches Interactive Virtual Tour to Bring Lincoln Collection to All

The Rolland Center for Lincoln Research at Allen County Public Library is pleased to announce the launch of a state-of-the-art interactive virtual tour, a new digital resource designed to expand access to its incomparable Lincoln Collection for educators and students, history enthusiasts and scholars, and interested others from around our community and  across the country and beyond. This tech offering allows users to explore the Center remotely, bridging the gap for those who cannot travel from area classrooms, or from distant locations anywhere in the world.  

Located within ACPL’s Main Library, the Rolland Center opened in January 2022 and showcases original photographs, letters, diaries, published works, and other artifacts relating to Abraham Lincoln, his life and times.  Its mission has long been to make this extraordinary collection accessible and engaging for the widest audience.  

 “We have been so pleased to welcome more than 20,000 visitors to the Rolland Center each year since its opening. There’s truly nothing like seeing these remarkable Lincoln artifacts in person,” said Curt Witcher, Director of Special Collections and Genealogy Center Manager at the Allen County Public Library. “Still, we recognize that not everyone can travel to Fort Wayne, and we aim to meet people where they are—by place or by screen—to connect them to Lincoln’s life and times in a meaningful, accessible way.”  

With the new virtual tour, the Rolland Center now offers:  

• High-resolution, 360° views of exhibit spaces, including immersive display areas 

• Interactive pins on artifacts, enabling users to zoom in, explore detailed descriptions, and follow contextual links  

• Access to digitized documents, images, and primary sources drawn from the Lincoln Collection  

• The ability to navigate the space using Virtual Reality (VR) technology. 

For those unable to travel to the Center, the virtual tour offers an intuitive platform for remote investigation. Through immersive views, researchers can preview and access curated exhibits otherwise viewable only in person. The virtual tool helps facilitate:  

• Pre-visit planning and exploration  

• Remote familiarization with exhibit contexts  

• Collaborative virtual engagements with artifacts and documents  

• Broader visibility for the Rolland Center’s holdings  

The virtual tour also gives teachers a powerful way to bring rare historical artifacts into everyday lessons. Students can analyze a teenager’s letter recounting Lincoln’s assassination, compare illustrated newspapers to trace the evolution of public opinion, or write a reflective paragraph after examining Civil War battlefield drumsticks. The virtual platform turns each artifact into a teachable moment, inviting students to investigate and apply their learning. It also complements the Rolland Center’s free English Language Arts curriculum for grades 9-10, offering educators a ready-made bridge between primary sources and classroom learning. 

The virtual tour is now live and freely accessible via the Rolland Center’s web page acpl.info/rolland. The project was funded by the Friends of the Lincoln Collection of Indiana.