The Lincoln-Douglass Debates

OK, so the debates weren't between Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln. But the headline is too good to have passed up with the posting of this "image" of the two together. I can't resist such things.

This photograph wasn't taken of Lincoln and Douglass at either of their meetings at the White House during the Civil War. I took it in the summer of 2005 at Historic Fort Wayne in Detroit, Michigan. Fred Priebe here portrays President Lincoln. No, I take that back. Fred is Abraham Lincoln. In the extended Civil War Reenacting community there are some who chose to present historical figures in the first person. Some might be easier to portray lesser familiar men of the time such as, I don't know, Thaddeus Stevens. Lincoln is a challenge. And one that Fred successfully meets.

We have a set-in-stone preconceived image of Lincoln. From photographs and statues and a plethora of books to movies and television.... and President's Day Sale fliers. And even pennies and five dollar bills have given us an idea in our collective minds of what to expect from (a) Lincoln. Fred Priebe doesn't disappoint. It takes more than being "lanky" with a mustache-less beard and a stove-pipe hat. It takes more than memorizing and regurgitating the "Gettysburg Address". In any good portrayal... of any figure... you need to become the character. Fred (I need to be honest here. I never, ever, have called him "Fred" to his face... even when it is just the two of us, away from the public, it is always "Mr. President"... and will always be)... is a student of Lincoln as much as he is a teacher of Lincoln. He probably knows more about the President than he or his contemporaries did. I wrote last month the 21st Michigan's newsletter that would I be able to travel back to the time of the Civil War, I'd likely pass on meeting Lincoln. Because of Fred Priebe, I know I would be disappointed in the real President! He would be a pale imitation of Fred! The beard is his own, so he never has the luxury of ever being totally out of character. I imagine in Home Depot in blue jeans and a t-shirt, he is asked, "Has anyone ever told you that you look like Abraham Lincoln?"

I'd like to share a quick story about Fred and a testimony to the realness of his Lincoln. Rosalia, a little girl - then five or six - in our reenacting unit, knew Fred only as Abraham Lincoln from her family's involvement in reenacting and friendship with Fred. One day, Rosalia and her father were watching a program on PBS or the History Channel about Booth's assassination of Lincoln. Suddenly, it hit her all at once, and she looked up at her father and, with tears in her eyes, said, "They killed Mr. Lincoln!?" To her, Abraham Lincoln is Fred Priebe. And she thought he had been shot.

Check out his website at http://alincolnstyle.com/ Fred does much more that attend Civil War Reenactments. His calendar is full and impressive. And I would be remiss to not mention his bride, Bonnie, does a terrific job at his side as Mary Todd Lincoln!

I regret to say that I don't know the man who portrays the great Frederick Douglass, though I have seen him many, many times. I will find out and make amends and correct this post as soon as I can. But too, like Fred, standing and talking with this gentleman, I feel as if I have actually met Frederick Douglass.

Here is the same picture without the tweaking and antiquing of Print Shop.