Nationally renowned Lincoln Historian and Holland, Indiana native “Bill” Bartelt will open the Indiana Bicentennial edition of the Holland Community Fest this Friday, September 16th at 6 pm at Holland Park’s Henke Pavilion. Bartelt, a 1964 Holland High School Graduate will return home to participate in the Opening Ceremony of Holland’s annual fest. Bartelt worked many summers at the Living Historical Farm at Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial in Lincoln City. He also worked at the Lincoln Home National Historic Site in Springfield, Illinois. Bartelt’s work in “everything Lincoln” prompted him in 2008 to author There I Grew Up: Remembering Abraham Lincoln’s Indiana Youth.
The book served as a source for the movie The Better Angels, a 2014 film about Lincoln’s boyhood years. Bartelt worked as a historical consultant for the movie. In 2007 Bartelt, a former teacher at Evansville’s Harrison High School and adjunct instructor at the University of Southern Indiana, was appointed by then President George W. Bush to the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission. He also served on Indiana’s Lincoln Commission.
He and his wife Kathy reside in Newburgh. For the fest’s opening Bartelt will reflect upon local Indiana at the time of the state’s establishment in 1816, and open the fest’s three day long focus on the Hoosier State’s 200th anniversary.
For more information on the Holland Community Fest visit the official web site at Hollandindiana.org.
The Holland Community Fest is an Official Indiana Bicentennial Legacy Project.
