Lincolnian News Hits 500 Posts and is Going Strong

By John A. O'Brien

Denver, Colorado

Monday, May 19, 2025

Four years ago, the Lincoln Group of DC took a bold step to completely revamp our website. New name, new format, and new blog component. This post is our 500th and I am happy to report that the state of the blog is strong.

Lincolnian.org was created by the Lincoln Group board to better connect with and serve our members and to provide an information resource for others who are interested in the legacy of Abraham Lincoln. The goal was for this site to be a regular and active source for all aspects of Lincoln’s history, commemorations, and the implications of his beliefs in the modern era. The website was to be a real-time companion to our printed quarterly journal, The Lincolnian. Thanks to our readers and our amazing contributors, the site has exceeded all of the original expectations. Feedback tells us that this has been a real added value feature for our members.

From one of our first posts in 2021. Board members Rod Ross, David Kent, and John O'Brien in the Lincoln Room at the U.S. Capitol. Congressman Lincoln read mail here.

Since beginning publication in February 2021, this site has had more than 60,000 visits. Certain topics seem to attract more attention, for example, our discussion of whether Lincoln was more conservative or liberal. Posts on that topic have received more than 2000 views. Pieces on Lincoln sites such as the Lincoln Room in the U.S. Capitol and our series of “Unexpected Lincoln” explorations have also garnered more than 2,000 views each. Topical matters such as our reports on the passing of Lincoln scholars Peter Carmicheal, and more recently James L. Swanson, found significant interest with nearly 1,200 and 500 views, respectively. Stories on aspects of Lincoln’s character were the next most frequented.

So how do we compare with other similar history-themed sites? A national database shows that Lincolnian.org is significantly better than similar sites in attracting unique visitors, keeping their attention longer, and attracting viewers from social media and the major search engines. We do as well as half of our peers in attracting return visitors.   

The challenge to sustaining a quality website is to ensure regular and interesting content. We appreciate those who write for and maintain this website: Ed Epstein, David Kent, Wendy Swanson, John O’Brien, Kelsey Johnston, and Janet Saros. They spend a considerable amount of time to ensure that we stay active and current. We also acknowledge that we are building on the foundation started by Karen Needles with our predecessor website. Karen continues her work with Lincoln documents on LincolnArchives.org. We also welcome articles contributed by our members and other Lincoln enthusiasts.        

Lincolnian.org is the source for information on all Lincoln Group of the District of Columbia activities and news. In this our 90th year, we are proud to be the longest continuously serving and currently most active organization in the Lincoln studies domain. We appreciate your feedback and look forward to your ideas for improvement when sent to LincolnianDC@gmail.com.