Dear Ruth,

I am in receipt of the
National Park Service
Lincoln Highway
Special Resource Study...

issued as a result of
The Lincoln Highway Study Act of 2000
(Public Law 106-563)
and cover letter
L58 (MWR-PSL/PP) from...

Ernest Quintana,
NPS Regional Director
inviting substantive comments,
"that provide factual information,"
based on...
"professional opinion or
informed judgment that is germane
to the action being proposed."

I have chosen to submit my
"Substantive Comments"
via email in order to better present
"Factual Information"
in the form of photographs or scans
which speak directly
to issues at hand.

If at some point,
my comments and associated images
need to be put in the more standard letter form
with the images attached as an appendix
for Congressional Review
I will be happy to conform.

Accordingly,
they are offered as
"Professional Opinion"
or
"Informed Judgment",
based on my credentials as...

Founder and Director of
The Lincoln Highway National Museum & Archives
in Galion, Ohio...

which opened in May
of 1999 featuring...

The White House Exhibition...

and
The Lincoln-Hammond Collection
from Miami University
which includes a...

"Lock of Mr. Lincoln's Hair".

In addition,
it should be noted,
The Lincoln Highway National Museum & Archives
has established a
World Class Web Site...

www.lincoln-highway-museum.org

and is
"On the Map"

in both the 2004...

American Map-Road Atlas...

and the 2004...

Roadmaster-Road Atlas.

In addition,
my credentials include...

Founder and Director of
"The Lincoln Highway Comes of Age"
A Nationwide Millennium Project
taking my charge to:

"Honor the Past-Imagine the Future"
and
"Keep Alive...The Sacred Fire of Liberty"

directly from
President Clinton...

in his State of Union Address
on January 19, 1999.

In conjunction with my assigned task,
I was in Washington for...

the Opening Ceremony of
The Millennium Celebration...

and was present at
The Lincoln Memorial
when the clock struck midnight
at "The Beginning" of
The 21st Century.

While in Washington,
I submitted this 275 page treatise to...

The White House Millennium Council
detailing plans for a
1999-2004
Lincoln Highway
Nationwide Gala Celebration.

In addition to discussions with
The White House Millenium Council,
a copy along with various other
Lincoln Highway Items
was hand delivered via
White House Interoffice Mail to
The First Lady
as Honorary Chairman of
The White House Millennium Council.

Twelve days later...

on Carl Fisher's Birthday
January 12th
after a update on
"The Washington Trip"
at the museum
and seeing
The First Lady
give a
"Top Ten List"
on David Letterman,
work began on this 80 page
"Top Ten Reasons"
for Mrs. Clinton to Come to Galion
on Mr. Lincoln's Birthday.

Several weeks later,
The White House
called and said she was busy.

Taking advantage of the situation,
it was back to Washington for
The Lincoln National Birthday Celebration...

and for the first time,
presented a
Lincoln Highway Wreath
at the sacred shrine.

Several days later...

I received this from
The First Lady.

In addition,
direct contact
was also established with
President Clinton
as copies of
The Lincoln Highway Comes of Age
A Nationwide Millennium Project
and various other
Lincoln Highway Items
were hand delivered
on several occasions by his
Deputy Chief of Staff,
an old college acquaintance.

On occasion,
I would receive...

a note of thanks...

and finally this...

Special Momento
signed by the President.

As a highlight to this work,
The White House Millennium Council
designated both...

The Lincoln Highway
and...

The Great Funeral Cortege
The Lincoln Funeral Train Route
as Millennium Trails.

As a result,
at least one Community
from each of the
Lincoln Highway States
participated thus creating a
"Link Across America"
with
The Lincoln Highway National Museum & Archives
as the largest sponsor of
White House Millennium Council
"Community Millennium Trails"
in the Nation.

Click Here...

for a complete list of
participating Communities.

The Harding Highway
and
The Harding Funeral Train Route
were also nominated,
but due to a clerical error at
The White House
certificates were never issued.

In addition,
as part of
The Lincoln Highway Comes of Age
A Nationwide Millennium Project
and my Mission to...

"Honor the Past-Imagine the Future"
and
"Keep Alive...The Sacred Fire of Liberty"

the Museum sponsored
"The Day Mr. Lincoln Came to Town"
a trip across the Continent
to Commemorate the 85th Anniversary of...

The 1915 Lincoln Highway Film and Flag Tour.

The goal was to carry...

"The Sacred Fire of Liberty"
across the Continent in the...

"Spirit of the Lincoln Way"
Firetruck and fly...

the American & Lincoln Highway Flag
in all 450 plus communities on
The Lincoln Highway,
with pictures in front of...

US Capital...

The Lincoln Memorial...

and Zero Milestone
before heading to Times Square,
The Eastern Terminus of the Lincoln Highway
for the Journey west to...

The End of the Lincoln Highway
in Lincoln Park-San Francisco.

Shortly thereafter...

the trip was featured in
"Who's News"...

with this short article in...

Preservation Magazine
official publication of
The National Trust for Historic Preservation.

In addition to
Preservation,
the story of
The Lincoln Highway
The Lincoln Highway National Museum & Archives
and the...

"Long Journey into History"
has been reported by hundreds
of Newspaper, TV, Radio and Web Stories...

detailed here.

While in Washington,
High Ranking Government Officials
must have seen
"The Spirit"
because 6 months later...

Mr. Lincoln was seen rolling down
Pennsylvania Ave...

as part of President Bush's Inaugural Parade.

Several weeks later,
it was seen once again...

in front of
The Lincoln Memorial...

as part of
The Lincoln National Birthday Celebration,
where I once again presented a wreath...

to Mr. Lincoln...

on behalf of the Museum
and all Lincoln Highway Communities.

In February of 2001
"The Spirit"
carried 39 wreaths
from various Lincoln Groups
and Lincoln Highway Communities.

The Museum is one of only...

20 groups nationwide...

invited by...

The Director of the National Park Service
and The Lincoln Birthday National Commemorative Committee...

under signature of
Terry R. Carlstrom
Region Director,
National Capital Region
to participate in this prestigious event.

The Museum has participated
since 1999...

and has been featured
the last two years in...

The Washington Post.

This year was extra special,
with a 4000 Mile Lincoln Pilgrimage
that started in Lincoln Park...

for the 80th Anniversary...

of the first Boy Scout Lincoln Pilgrimage...

at the Harding Memorial Tree at the...

End of the Lincoln Highway...

which resulted in the birth of
"The Lincoln Pilgrimage Pole"
that went down the coast...

meeting with firemen...

along the way to...

The 60th Anniversary of the Lincoln Pilgrimage...

in Redlands, California,
for a wreath presentation at...

The Lincoln Shrine.

From there is was
"All Aboard..."

AMTRAK for the trip back to Washington
commemorating 70th Anniversary of the...

"City of Salinas"
Union Pacific's
first streamliner service
from Los Angles to Washington
inaugurated on
Mr. Lincoln's Birthday
February 12, 1934.

Before meeting...

AMTRAK Officials in Oakland
and adding the AMTRAK Banner to
The Lincoln Pilgrimage Pole,
The Associated Press
picked up the
Lincoln Pilgrimage Photo
which ran in papers all
across the country including...

The Galion Inquirer
and was even seen posted in the
AMTRAK Crew Room in New York City.

This was the 13th Lincoln/Lincoln Highway Photo...

to move nationally via the Associated Press,
since this one moved on...

Memorial Day 2000
as part of coordinated effort by
The Lincoln Highway National Museum & Archives
and
The White House Remembrance Commission

Click Here...

for a complete list.

All this in a little more
than six years after making...

the first modern reflective
Lincoln Highway Signs,
and sponsoring an effort...

To Re-Sign
The Lincoln Highway...

as part of the
"Trip of a Lifetime"
A Nationwide Gala Celebration
for the 85th year of the Highway
and 70th Anniversary of the 1928
Boys Scout Concrete Markers.

After concerted effort
and presentations to
The Boy Scouts of America,
The Lincoln Highway Association
and
Former President Bush
there were no takers.

So with time running out,
in August of 1998...

it was off for
"The Trip of a Lifetime"
traveling across the Continent
in 43 days to set the stage
for future events.

While in Oakland,
researching the Lincoln Highway
for a possible documentary on
The History Channel
"Destiny"
placed in my way...

The Lincoln Highway
The Story of a Crusade
That Made Transportation History.

While not uncommon...

in Libraries,
this particular book was special...

because it was written by...

David R. Lane,
Author of
The Lincoln Highway
The Story of a Crusade
That Made Transportation History.

All well and good,
but can you prove it???

Indeed,
for several days later
after extensive research,
I found his daughter,
who gave me...

"Proof Positive"
in the form of her father's
autographed copy...

his Notebook,
and this photo...

taken at Frank Seiberling's House...

along with this letter,
detailing the chain of events.

However...

this Masonic biography
coupled with this inscribed copy...

by Gael Hoag,
pretty well sums it up...

"Text is Mine"
"Biographical Sketches by Gael Hoag"

Here-to-fore
the common misperception
by Lincoln Highway Scholars...

including Pete Davies...

was that Gael Hoag
was the author.

The Gift,
is what I consider to be
"The Holy Grail"
and was "The Foundation" for
all that was to follow...

"The Lincoln Highway Comes of Age"
and
The Lincoln Highway National Museum & Archives.

Since that time,
there have been many
historic and ground breaking discoveries,
which include...

Carl Fisher's...

Gold Gilded...

"Personal"
signed copy of
David R. Lane's book
The Lincoln Highway.

The last chapter of...

Gael S. Hoag, Secretary
The Lincoln Highway Association,
one of the biggest unsolved
Lincoln Highway mysteries...

finally brought to light on
December 2, 2003 the
Anniversary of his Death,
and the discovery of...

his long lost
Great Grand Son.

Not to mention,
the discovery of...

"The Lincoln Highway Song"
as the official LH song...

and the 1915 addition of
Washington and the Lincoln Memorial
to the Route of...

The Lincoln Highway...

and subsequent photos taken in 1919...

on the New York to Washington Routing.

All this in addition to
over 60,000 pages of research,
20,000 original photos
and 15,000 scans of
historic documents, magazines, and images.

This being over 30,000 pages
collected while on the road
the last 3 years.

But that still doesn't speak to...

The Lincoln Highway Study Act
as signed by President Clinton
December 23, 2000
and the role of
The Lincoln Highway National Museum & Archives.
and my work on
"The Lincoln Highway Comes of Age"
A Nationwide Millennium Project
in its passage...

as specifically cited by
Congressman Oxley
during the House Debate on...

October 17, 2000...

and sent to me as a surprise
by Congressman Oxley.

Three months later...

I surprised him with this
Statue of Mr. Lincoln
as a token of my appreciation
while in Washington for the Inauguration.

In addition,
I was asked by
Kevin Patrick,
to make additions and corrections
to his preliminary report...

The Lincoln Highway
Resource Guide
which precedes this report.

Click Here

for his acknowledgement.

That being said,
I think I'm qualified
to speak on the subject.

Warmest Regards,

Craig Harmon, Director
Cell Phone 419-566-0790

email: starman@bright.net
Museum Web Site: www.lincoln-highway-museum.org

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