What happens
Abe Lincoln, a young backwoodsman and store clerk in New Salem, Illinois, struggles with debt and a lack of direction. Friends Bowling Green and Josh Speed urge him toward public life after he steps in to stop a fight involving Governor Edwards' son. Lincoln reflects on his fears and his regard for the schoolteacher Anne Rutledge, who has been unable to commit to him. Later, news of Anne's illness arrives and Lincoln goes to her side. This adaptation of Robert E. Sherwood's play is presented on the Lux Radio Theatre, first broadcast on April 22, 1940, starring Raymond Massey as Lincoln, Faye Bainter as Mary Todd and Otto Kruger.
New Salem and Springfield, Illinois, in the 1830s and 1840s
Characters: Abe Lincoln, Zeb, Josh Speed, Bowling Green, Anne Rutledge, Mr. Edwards, Jack Armstrong, Mary Todd
Listen for: Lincoln's lessons in grammar and the five moods, and his quiet grief when he learns of Anne Rutledge's death
Written from the episode itself; it never gives away the ending. Every recording is remastered for the stream: cleaned of rumble, hiss and mains hum (and the old TV whine where we found it), then levelled in two passes to steady broadcast loudness, so one show is never quieter than the next.