Programs - Meet Mr. Lincoln

Programs: Meet Mr. Lincoln
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Your students will actually be able to Meet Mr. Lincoln during this very unique, fast-paced, often humorous program. The President has invited a special group of students (i.e., your students!) to visit with him at White House on Friday, April 14, 1865 - the last night of the President's life. The visit is brief one, only 45 minutes or so, because the President and his wife are soon to leave for an evening at Ford’s Theatre.

Entering first as himself, our actor/educator sets the stage for what is to come. Tom describes the very different time in which Mr. Lincoln lived, explains the circumstances of the Civil War, and then tells the students their role in the program. You see they are students privileged to visit the President right in the White House itself!

He does all of this while transforming himself into the 16th president by setting up props and adjusting scenery, donning costume, wig, beard and makeup. This often brings the shows first round of applause as they are amazed that the nearly magic transformation!

Now the show within a show begins as Mr. Lincoln begins his intimate visit with your students. We learn of his childhood, his formation of himself and his beliefs as a young man, his overcoming of so many obstacles internal and external. The children love to learn about his family, life in the White House (including two pet goats and a doll named "Jack"), and the values that sustained him through so many hard years, including prominently, a strong sense of humor! We hear first hand his love of his wife and children, the people that surrounded him, his love the United States and all its stands for -- freedom, equality, government by the people.

As the program comes towards its close, Mr. Lincoln rushes off for an evening at the theater as Mr. Swenson reappears. As himself, he can carefully and caringly take the children through the last night of the President's life, and help them understand the significance of this great American's life.