INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — Select eighth graders from Indian River County’s four traditional middle schools met the nation’s 16th leader, President Abraham Lincoln, this week, spending about an hour with the tall, lanky, bearded man known for his top hat and his Gettysburg Address.
For more than a half an hour, Dennis Boggs – a professional Abraham Lincoln actor – regaled 300 students from Gifford and Oslo middle schools Monday afternoon with tales from his childhood, his struggles as a young man, and, of course, his embattled presidency. It was the second such performance, having started at Storm Grove Middle, where Sebastian River Middle students visited.
He ended his performance urging students to continue their education – something Honest Abe himself didn’t do, having attended a mere 300 days of school his entire life. Lincoln learned enough to read and write and perform basic arithmetic.
Just as Lincoln fought to reunite the nation, Boggs said students today are facing similar battles.
“You’re fighting wars every day,” he said – wars against hunger, against racism, against disease, against crime and violence. “They can only be won with knowledge.”
“I beg you to continue your education,” Lincoln said. “You’re the luckiest children on the planet” because you live in America.
“I am an image, a voice of the past,” he continued. “Each of you is the voice of the future.”
Those voices took the opportunity to pepper Lincoln with several questions – ranging from how he got his nickname “Honest Abe” and if he really did slay vampires as a recent movie portrays to more serious ones dealing with slavery and the U.S. Constitution.
“How old are you?” he asked the boy who asked him about vampires. “I thought I was going to have to talk to your mama.”
“Oh, I’m gonna like you,” Lincoln said, addressing another student who posed a tough question about the president suspending the Writ of Habeas Corpus – the law that requires those who have been arrested to go before a judge or court, ensuring that they are not unlawfully detained.
Lincoln justified his suspension of the writ during the War Between the States, noting that it was not a Constitutional right, but a privilege – one that could be suspended under certain circumstances.
As for his big hat? “Why do you wear designer tennis shoes?” Lincoln lobbed back to the student who posed the question. “They were very, very popular.”
And would Lincoln have forgiven his assassinator John Wilkes Booth? “I would like to think so,” the Lincoln portrayer said.
He explained that Lincoln once had dinner with a couple that was pro-slavery and pro-secession. During the dinner, an anti-slavery person questioned Lincoln’s choice of company, noting that – as the enemy – Lincoln should destroy them. The president replied, noting that by making friends of the enemy, he has “destroyed” the enemy.
“They are fascinated by history,” Boggs said as the students filed out of the cafeteria. “They don’t know it until they start asking questions.”
Lincoln visited the Indian River County schools at the invitation of the Vero Beach Town Committee of the National Society of Colonial Dames of America, which heard of Boggs’ performances through their Jacksonville chapter.
“The study of American History is paramount,” committee chair Peggy Segalas said.
For 13 years, the committee has invited a historical actor to speak at various schools. Such actors have portrayed George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin, to name a few.
