"But what about the slaves, Mister President?"

BLOOMINGTON - A news conference held by a Republican President during an unpopular war will be featured in Bloomington on September 20 during this year's annual meeting of the David Davis Mansion Foundation.

 

Renowned Lincoln impersonator George Buss will field questions about Abraham Lincoln's presidency from present-day central Illinois media personalities, including Steve Arney from the Pantagraph; R.C. McBride from Bloomington radio station WJBC; Eric Shangraw from NBC-TV affiliate WEEK Peoria; Will Koch from CBS-TV affiliate WMBD Peoria; Charlie Schlenker from National Public Radio affiliate WGLT Normal; and Fraser Engerman from State Farm.  Members of the media attending this White House news conference will question the president about 1860s topics that are eerily similar to those you may overhear at a presidential news conference today - an unpopular and costly war, individual liberties, the economy, and political infighting.      

 

Other local Lincoln scholars will also appear in costume at the news conference, representing some of Lincoln's most important central Illinois friends such as Billy Herndon, Jesse Fell and Leonard Swett.  Pat Schley will appear as Sarah Davis and Bob LaPorte will be Judge David Davis; both are students of Lincoln's life and veteran interpreters at the David Davis Mansion.  Civil War re-enactor J. D. Scott will portray Mr. Burrows, a local reporter who witnessed Lincoln's "Lost Speech" on May 29, 1856 in Bloomington.

 

The program, which is free and open to the public, is scheduled for Wednesday evening, September 20 from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Normal Theater in downtown Normal. 

 

There will also be a $25 per person fundraising reception honoring President Lincoln (portrayed by Mr. Buss) at the David Davis Mansion on Thursday evening, September 21 from 5 to 7 p.m.  Hors d'oeuvres and wine will be served.  This event is also open to the public and proceeds raised by the event will be used to fund educational programs for the community.

 

Both events are scheduled as part of the David Davis Mansion Foundation's 2006 Community Meeting and are co-sponsored by the McLean County Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission. 

Mr. Buss has been selected, along with Stephen A. Douglas impersonator Tim Connors, to appear in the re-enactment of seven of the Lincoln-Douglas debates being staged by the Sesquicentennial Lincoln-Douglas Debate forum.  For fifteen years, Buss and his good friend, the late Rich Sokup, interpreted Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas in nearly 400 performances before local, state and national audiences.  Their presentations were based upon an original script authored by Sokup.  Buss and Sokup appeared on the stage at Ford's Theater in Washington, DC and in Gettysburg, Chicago, Atlanta, Topeka, and New Orleans—to name but a few.  They were the only pair to appear twice in the live broadcasts of the 1994 C-Span Lincoln-Douglas Debates.  Since Sokup's passing, Buss has continued interpreting Lincoln, using Sokup's original script as a basis for the presentations.  Buss' long-time friend, Harold Holzer (Co-chair of the U.S. Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission) says of Buss' interpretation, "I have never been as riveted by a Lincoln interpreter (at any time or any place) as I was by your presentation."

 

Buss will also appear in several area classrooms that week, where he will make a brief presentation and answer students' questions about Lincoln. 

 

Along with the Lost Speech reenactment on May 29, 2006, these unique programs are part of a series of important community events leading up to the Lincoln Bicentennial in 2009.

 

            The David Davis Mansion Foundation supports programs at the David Davis Mansion State Historic Site.  The Mansion is administered by the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency (www.Illinois-History.gov), and was built in 1872 for U.S. Supreme Court Justice David Davis and his wife, Sarah.  The Victorian mansion is located at 1000 E. Monroe in Bloomington and is open for free public tours Wednesday through Sunday starting at 9 a.m. with the last tour leaving at 4 p.m.