Ill. offices closed for Lincoln's Birthday

By AP

Created: Sunday, February 12, 2012 5:30 a.m. CDT

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CHICAGO – Illinois government offices will be closed Monday in observance of President Abraham Lincoln's birthday.

Lincoln was born Feb. 12, 1809.

Government offices including Secretary of State facilities, courthouses and local libraries will be closed.

Lincoln's Birthday isn't a federal holiday and is only observed in a handful of states.

The Abraham Lincoln Association will celebrate the 16th president's 203rd birthday with two days of presentations on the theme of Lincoln and the Civil War.

The celebration was Saturday and today beginning with keynote speaker James Oakes on "The Emancipation Proclamation: Myths and Realities." Oakes is a slavery and Civil War scholar from the City University of New York Graduate Center.

The dinner speaker today will be Illinois Democratic Sen. Richard Durbin.