Many thanks to Donna Daniels, who provided much of the information on this page!
Abbreviations used:
- LHVC- Lincoln Home Visitors Center
- LHCC-Lincoln Home Conference Center
- LT- Lincoln Tomb
- MFC- Museum of Funeral Customs
- ALPLM- Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library & Museum
| Year | Keynote Speaker | Memorial Service Speakers/Singers | Where annual lunch was held | Other events, venues & programs | Notes |
| 2001 | Donna Daniels | Had informal dinner at Cracker Barrel with Judy Winkleman from Lincoln Home NHS | very 1st memorial service, Tuesday, July 17 . Attendees included Donna & Max Daniels, Valerie & Brian Gugala and family, Donna McCreary, Joe & Vickie Woodard | ||
| 2007 | Donna McCreary “KY Todds Exodus to Springfield” & Valerie Gugala “The Woman Who Could Make a Bishop Forget His Prayers” | Donna Daniels, Valerie Gugala, and Donna McCreary | Tea Thyme | Donna McCreary book signing at LHVC for “Fashionable First Lady” & speech about “Dressing Mrs. Lincoln” Donna McCreary spoke at MFC. Topic was “Springfield Says Goodbye” | Donna Daniels performed “MTL: The Last Years of Mary Lincoln” at the LHVC |
| 2008 | Valerie Gugala “Mary, Mother of 4” Donna McCreary “Abraham’s Favorite Dessert” | Donna McCreary | Tea Thyme | Donna McCreary spoke LHVC, speech topic was “Mary, The Quintessential Hostess”. Donna also spoke at MFC about Victorian mourning customs Donna Daniels performed “MTL: The Last Years of Mary Lincoln” at the LHVC | Due to construction, Memorial service held behind the tomb We all learned not to leave cars in tomb parking lot-gate are locked promptly at closing! |
| 2009 | Catherine Clinton | Maldaner’s | Donna McCreary & Dean Dorrell performed “An evening with the Lincolns” at the Lincoln Home Visitors Center Donna McCreary spoke at LHVC. Topic was “Mary’s Legacy According to Robert” Donna also held book signing along side Catherine Clinton | Valerie Gugala & Donna McCreary spoke to the volunteers of the ALPLM. 1st welcome event/Strawberry Party. Held in hotel meeting room. Pot luck dinner, coterie provided pizza. | |
| 2010 | No Speaker scheduled; Pam Brown gave presentation as Mary Lincoln at Old State Capital after lunch | Jo Ann Tufo & Valerie Gugala-speakers Laura Keyes-singer | Maldaner’s | Pot luck lunch & welcome at hotel Donna McCreary spoke at LHVC. Topic was “Mary & the Springfield Todds” Donna Daniels spoke at LHVC on Mourning Customs of the Victorians | Small group went to ALPLM and was shown items belonging to Mary from the collection, including the “strawberry dress” |
| Year | Keynote Speaker | Memorial Service Speakers/Singers | Where annual lunch was held | Other events, venues & programs | Notes |
| 2011 | Kim Bauer | Singer-Kari Jones | Sebastian’s Hideout | Valerie Gugala and Kari Jones performed “Divided: Mary Lincoln & Emilie Todd Helm” at LHVC Donna McCreary spoke at LHVC about “The Ancestral Todds” | |
| 2012 | Kathryn Harris as Mrs. Keckley | Denise Blaze and Valerie Gugala- Speakers | Maldaner’s | Donna McCreary spoke about “The Kentucky Todds” at LHVC Some Coterie members attended an Ice Cream Social at Edward’s Place as part of their Civil War Days | The Coterie encouraged members to tour the GAR Museum and the DUV Museum We had an informal dinner at Abe’s Pub |
| 2013 | Representative from the Daughters of the Union Veterans of the Civil War 1861-1865. She spoke to us about the history of the group. | Max Daniels, Sara Resler & Donna McCreary-speakers | Maldaner’s | Valerie Gugala and Gina Payne performed “Divided: Mary Lincoln & Emilie Todd Helm” at LHVC | 1st time we held a “day before” lunch. It held at Edward’s Place, and the speaker was Trevor Steinbach. He spoke about childhood diseases of the 19th century. |
| 2014 | Maldaner’s | 1st time we held Strawberry Party at the Ramada North. Helen Milliam spoke about “The Graces of Tea” | |||
| 2015 | Dr. James Cornelius | Teresa Szabo | Maldaner’s | Had “day before” lunch at Edward’s Place. Valerie Gugala spoke about “Mary and the Spiritualists” Strawberry party speakers were CJ King (“Four Marys and a Jessie”)and Mary Kent, who each spoke about their book. |
| Year | Keynote Speaker | Memorial Service Speakers/Singers | Where annual lunch was held | Other events, venues & programs | Notes |
| 2016 | Steve Ingram spoke about 19th Century photography | JoAnn Tufo-Speaker Donna Daniels & Joellen Kowalski-Singers | Maldaner’s | Lunch at Edward’s Place; no speaker scheduled by Coterie. We attended program by Randy Duncan as Abraham Lincoln after lunch | Held Strawberry Party at Ramada North. No speaker scheduled, we held roundtable discussion. Met Dr Wayne Temple at Abe’s Hideout |
| 2017 | Chris Vallillo entertained us with “Lincoln’s Music” | Max Daniels-Speaker Nina Myers-Singer | Maldaner’s | Lunch at LHCC, food catered from Panera Bread. Speaker was Rose Harmon on the Lincoln Hired Girls. Some Coterie members had private tour of Lincoln Home led by Ranger Rose after lunch | |
| 2018 | Donna McCreary “Mary’s years in Lexington” | Janet Myer & Dr James Cornelius-Speakers Nina Myers-Singer | Maldaner’s | Lunch at LHCC, food catered from Panera Bread. Speaker was Valerie Gugala. Topic “Mary Lincoln and the Spiritualists” Strawberry Party speaker was Mary Beth Kessler, a local student who won award for her presentation on the choice of Abraham’s resting place | |
| 2019 | Trevor Steinbach spoke on “What Mary would have heard, seen, & smelled when she visited hospitals”. | Kathryn Harris-Speaker Donna Daniels & JoEllen Kowalski-singers | Maldaner’s | Lunch at LHCC, catered by Panera Bread. Max & Donna Daniels gave presentation on Victorian Christmas Customs. At Strawberry Party, we viewed slideshow of photos of past Coterie events, and discussed where do we go from here. | Due to bad weather, Memorial Service was held inside the tomb, in the burial chamber. What an honor! At the Strawberry Party, we honored our Coterie “heroes” Max Daniels and Brian Gugala with laurel wreaths (which they only begrudgingly put on, just for pictures, then as quickly as possible took them off.) |
| 2020 | Various coterie members spoke, including Janet Myer, Darin Joliffee-Haas, JoAnn Shelby-Klein JoAnn Peterson-singer Tom Peterson-accompanist | 1st vigil for Mary Lincoln, held on the evening of July 15th. Trevor Steinbach spoke as Dr. Dresser about Mary’s final illness. | Held all events via zoom 1st Mary Lincoln’s Coterie Trivia contest. Winner: Pam Vermillion |
Mary Lincoln's Coterie 