Published: August 30, 2008 02:31 am      

Reenacting a classic debate

Their debates lasted hours and often took place outdoors and in the hot sun.

Hundreds — sometimes thousands — from across Illinois would gather to hear them speak.

Instead of answering media questions, a candidate would orate for 20 to 30 minutes and then be subject to rebuttal by his opponent. Many times, the opponent would be the one posing the questions.

After they’d finished, they’d climb onto a train and go to the next stop and prepare to repeat.

They were Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas. And though the debates took place ahead of an Illinois senate race, the arguments became the stuff of legend, ultimately leading to the national prominence that put Lincoln in the White House.

“They were entertainment as well as informational,” said Carl Kramer, director of the Institute for Local and Oral History and American history professor at Indiana University Southeast.

The crux of the debates was the expansion of slavery — each occupying different positions relative to slavery’s use in the western states, Kramer said.

“What these debates did was raised Lincoln’s public profile,” he said. “He lost that senatorial election, but he made himself a national figure.”

But while debates about the future are about to grab headlines, these debates about the past will soon be re-enacted for the public’s benefit.

The debates are being revisited by two Illinois educators — who have taken on the personas of the two historic figures — at 6 p.m. Friday at the Warder Park gazebo, according to a press release from the Clark-Floyd Counties Convention & Tourism Bureau.

In the past, their efforts have brought them national acclaim.

The debate will be abbreviated, lasting about 90 minutes, and will include time for discussion with the audience.

George Buss, president of the Stephen Douglas Association and vice president of the Lincoln-Douglas Society, portrays Lincoln.

He’s been portraying Lincoln for more than 15 years and has performed at venues that include Ford’s Theater in Washington, D.C., and Gettysburg, Pa., He also portrayed Lincoln in two of the seven broadcasts of the C-SPAN Lincoln-Douglas Debates.

Tim Connors, director of theater and head coach of the speech team at Freeport High School in Freeport, Ill., plays Douglas.

He is active in theatrical and educational activities throughout his community, also playing Franklin Roosevelt in several programs of great speeches.

The events start with a community picnic at noon that day.

After lunch, students from area school corporations and home-schooled students are being encouraged to meet with the two to discuss the roles each played in U.S. history.

The period in history lends itself to classroom studies for students in the fourth and fifth grades.

The Moonlight Big Band will perform in Warder Park following the debate and will play a number of songs popular at the time. The band’s performance is part of the Warder Park Concert in the Park series.

“This is a great opportunity for the entire community,” said Jim Keith, visitor’s bureau executive director, which is sponsoring the event.

“We are excited to have two such qualified re-enactors come to our community and share their knowledge of these two great men in history to give the Sunny Side of Louisville a part in the celebration of the bicentennial of the debates.”