Longtime area resident noted Lincoln scholar and author/historian, Philip Kunhardt, spoke to a full house at The Katonah Museum of Art on Jan. 10. His books include "Lincoln- Life-Size" and "Looking for Lincoln - The Making of an American Icon." 

The lecture, "The President and the Poet: The Converging Lives of Abraham Lincoln and Walt Whitman" was one of the events that has accompanied the current show at the Katonah Museum, "Bold, Cautious, True, Walt Whitman and American Art of the Civil War Era." This show was done in conjunction with curator Kevin Sharp of The Dixon Gallery and Gardens of Memphis, Tennessee.

Philip Kunhardt was the recipient along with his brother, Peter, in 2009 of The Order of Lincoln Award from The Lincoln Academy of Illinois for their lifetime contribution to the understanding and appreciation of Abraham Lincoln. He has written several books on Lincoln for Smithsonian Magazine, received a grant from the U.S. State Department to speak to audiences in Russia about Abraham Lincoln and has directed conferences on Lincoln, including one at Bard College in March 2009.

If it was the exhibit itself that has illuminated the strife and sorrow of the Civil War Era with the verse of Whitman sprinkled throughout the exhibit halls, it was the words of Philip Kunhardt that gave us the deeper understanding of the relationship between Walt Whitman and Abraham Lincoln. They were both from poor families involved with farming and carpentry and were shunned by their fathers for pursuing education as a way out of their difficult lives.

Lincoln first learned of Whitman when a law associate brought "Leaves of Grass" into the law office. Lincoln would often read from it aloud to his co- workers. He once brought it home and his wife, Mary, threatened to throw it into the fire since she found it to be obscene, Kunhardt said.

Lincoln was greatly influenced by Whitman not only in his private life but also his public life. It was shown how Lincoln improved his writing skills after studying Whitman, Kunhardt shared.

Perhaps influenced by "Leaves of Grass", Lincoln once included in his address to an agricultural conference in Illinois the phrase: "Every blade of grass is a study." His appearance, especially his hair, took on a wild appearance at times perhaps influenced by Whitman's appreciation of the natural body. Perhaps also his loosened tie as seen in his portraiture was part of that influence as well.

Walt Whitman portended the coming of and the need for a president not from The Eastern Establishment but someone self educated, from the woods and prairies, a bearded boatman or a blacksmith years before Lincoln took public office. Lincoln was all this.

As in any great art history lecture, Kunhardt contrasted and compared their talents and traits. At the end of the lecture there was a slide show of many not- seen-before portraits of the two during the various periods of their lives.

Lincoln seemed years younger than Whitman although he was 10 years his senior.  They lived parallel lives. They were well aware of each other and during Whitman's time of service to the soldiers in the field hospitals of Washington D.C., Whitman would post himself at the corner of M & L Street to wait to see the carriage of the President pass on his way to the White House each morning. After a time they would acknowledge each other with a bow.

The closest failed interaction was on the 31st of October 1864 when Whitman was invited by Lincoln's Secretary, John Hay, to pay a visit to his office to obtain a furlough to be able to return home to vote. Whitman, who was famous for "celebrating" himself cleaned up for the occasion.

We saw a portrait in which he is neatly groomed and even possibly had copied the haircut of the President. John Hays' office was directly across the hall from the Oval Office and Walt Whitman at one point was directly across from the President who was engaged in conversation with another gentleman. Whitman froze and the opportunity was lost forever. Soon after he wrote in his Journal, "I love the president personally."

The exhibit is on until Jan. 24.

For more information on Philip Kunhardt, click here.