Ford's Theater Day Two

We are back in the hotel after a very busy day. The students have toured Ford's Theater, performed improv near the National Archives and looked at modern art at the National Portrait Gallery. The fellows read our speeches and critiqued fellow fellows speeches as well as analyzed student work. The teaching artists have been working with the kids and so I haven't seen much of them but they seem to be having a good time. I am really excited to hear their speeches on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial tomorrow.

 

At lunch, Ray Dempsey of British Petroleum spoke to everyone. BP is a supporter of the oratory fellowship and Ray is the VP in charge of legislative affairs in DC. He is a phenomenal speaker and he captivated the kids. He has a great story to tell and tells it well. He and I chatted and found out he graduated from Winfield, Kansas and had lived in Ark City (my hometown). His grandmother still lives there. He said he's in Wichita regularly and so I'm hoping I can get him into TIS for the kids to hear him. He talked about the BP oil spill in 2010 and his role as one of the media people for it during the disaster. Its easy to paint the company as a greedy villain until you hear him speak. Compelling is the best word to describe it.

 The afternoon for the students was a tour of the theater and the Peterson House (where Lincoln died). Fellows spent the afternoon looking at student work we brought. I had expected a show and tell but Sarah and Cynthia offered a different angle on student work. The work was viewed with no explanation. The reviewers could report what they saw but make not judgements about the work. After that, they could ask questions which the presenter compiled but didn't not immediately. When their observations and questions were complete, then the presenter explained the work and answered questions. It was a cool exercises and completely unnerving when it was my turn. Five minutes of silence as they review the work and then six sets of eyes noticing and questioning. I used the kid's analysis of King's I Have a Dream Speech (you can see these in the King's Speech posts 1, 2, 3 and 4.) I like that it relies on the work to speak for itself. In the end, they noticed things I hadn't and asked questions I need to reflect on.

The evening was spent at the theater, Ford's Theater. We saw Hello Dolly and it was excellent. It was something I had wanted to do for a few years now-to see a show at Ford's, and I am so glad we got the opportunity. I've never really warmed up to the show. This production, however, made me a convert. The Irene Malloy was phenomenal. Beautiful voice and great comedic timing. The Horace Vandergelder was a treat to watch--that can be such an unlikeable character and you saw the charm as well as the rough edges. The dancing was amazing--the dance chorus (four men and two women who made up the chorus but were also the companies principal dancers were unnervingly tall. They all had to be 6 foot plus. They towered over a couple of the other actors and had a couple showstopping moments. The real showstopper was the Dolly Levi. Its a role that becomes characture-ish quick and she never was. She commanded the stage. There was a moment between Vandergelder and Dolly in the restaurant which was as good as it gets in the theater. The staging was clean and ingenious in its use of these unmanned baggage carts as the set for the train station, feed store and millinery shop. After the show, Steven, one of the teaching artists and an professional actor who played three roles in the show, gave us a tour of the theater and talked about the assassination. He was a hoot to watch on stage (I would have been curious to see where he would have taken Vandergelder) and so generous to spend an hour after a show to talk with us.





1855...when 791 + 5,427=2,905 ...only in Kansas!

We have moved on to Bleeding Kansas and I get to show one of my favorite primary sources!

Absttract-Kansas Voting Ledger 1855 (National Archives)

This ledger is the Abstract of Census and Returns of Election for the first territorial election in Kansas. The territorial governor had already been appointed by Pesident Peirce so the election is for the teritorial delegate to Congress. Look at the bottom of the ledger. According to the abstract, there were 5,427 votes for the pro-slavery candidate and 791 votes for the Free State (anti-slavery candidate).

5427+791=6218, right? Well, according to the census prior to the vote, there were only 2,905 elegible voters in the territory but more than 6,000 actual voters.

I love that there is a column in the ledger for illegal votes. Look at Leavenworth (#16). The number of illegal votes is more than double the number votes even possible. Leavenworth was a solidly proslavery town but it even happened the bastion of the Free State movement, Lawrence (#1)! There are 269 elegible voters and it is logical that more than 250 of the votes were for the Free State candidate. Then there are the almost 500 voters who cast a pro-slavery vote in Lawrence.

The answer is one of the reasons for the Border War between KU and Mizzou. At election time thousands, of Missouri residents cross the border to vote in the election. All they had to do was state they were intending to take residency and they were allowed to vote.

Letter to E. Thayer by Charles Robinson, 1855 (Source: Kansas Historical Society)

Future governor of Kansas, Charles Robinson wrote to a friend back east:

 

For E. Thayer

This is sent to Mr Rice to avoid opening & [xxx] [xxx].

Lawrence April 2 1855

Dear Sir

 

Another election in Kansas Territory has passed & like the first was controlled entirely by Missourians. A few days before the election I was travelling in the Southern & eastern part of the territory & met hundreds of people from Missouri on their way to the different voting precincts in the Territory. Encampments were formed in the vicinity of the polls varying in size according to the number of voters required in the several districts to secure their end - The grand rendevous was at Lawrence where they had reinforcements stationed for all parts –

 

At Tecumseh two of the judges of election refused to take the oath prescribed by the Governor & the third refused to proceed when the mob, after snapping pistols at the antislavery judge & threatening to destroy all the judges if they did not leave, proceeded to choose judges of their own & go on with the election - The free state men accordingly abandoned the polls & did not vote - At Douglas the judges attempted to conform to the law & instructions of the Gov. when they were mobbed & driven off. No antislavery voting was consequently done at that place

It will take two concurrent state legislature (one Free State and one "Bogus"), John Brown's Potawotomi Massacre, the sacking of Lawrence, four state constitutions, and a Civil War to get Kansas in the union. Kansas was a mess. Some things never change! ;)

Have a great weekend.

1863--Pardon a Turkey or deliver the Address?

 

Souce: National Archives

On November 26, 1863, America celebrated its first thanksgiving as a nation.
Granted, Thanksgivings were commemorated for nearly 250 years before that and on that Thursday in '63 we were still emmeshed in a Civil War. But ... Lincoln's Proclamation on October 3, 1863 set aside the last Thursday in November as a day of "Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficient Father who dwelleth in the Heavens". Prior to that, each state set when to observe the holiday. An editor from Godey's Lady Book had been lobbying presidents for almost 20 years for a national holiday and it was Lincoln who complied.
FDR would formally move the holiday up one week in 1939 in a attempt to spur Christmas sales. 1939 would end up with two Thanksgiving days as a result. If Lincoln would have set that day, Thanksgiving would have fallen on the Thursday he delivered the Gettysburg Address! Just thought that was interesting to note.
Above is the first page of Lincoln's proclamation, below, the final two pages. It is commonly accepted that Secretary of State Seward penned the proclamation for Lincoln's signature.

Note: the title is a little deceptive since the proclamation was issued on October 3 and Lincoln's invitation to speak at Gettysburg probably came later (the first Lincoln mentions his plans to attend the event at Gettysburg is October 30). Take it as a writer's perogotive...but it got you to read the blog, didn't it?

 

The 149th Anniversary of Near Perfection

Lincoln at Gettysburg National Cemetery (Source: National Archives)

The Gettysburg Address

The sesquicentennial minus one of the Gettysburg Address is today. This blog was originally meant to process thoughts from my travels with the Presidential Academy a couple of years ago. One of the weeks was spent in Gettysburg and it had a profound effect on me. You can't wander the battlefield and remain unmoved. You can't wander the cemetery without feeling two emotions seemingly at odds with themselves: pround sadness and profound hope. The Gettysburg Address beutifully captures both in a way I don't think any other speech does.

This blog now serves as a gateway to my thoughts on oratory and so this post fits.

But I've also been waxing eloquent on Thanksgiving and I think it fits as a post to that as well. Lincoln hits the nail on the head when he reminds us that we can't consecrate what has already been consecrated. Our job is to pick up the plow and continue the work. Veteran's Day last Monday and Thanksgiving this Thursday are great bookends for that sense of gratitude and expectation Lincoln suggests. Gratitude at the work done for us. Expectation at our work ahead.

The link above is to Ken Burn's take on the Gettysburg Address.

The link below is my take on the national cemetery at Gettysburg.

Declaration Address and Dream-July 21, 2011