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| Sharing history from the past |
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| News - Spring Hill | |||
| Written by Chase Jordan | |||
| Wednesday, 11 February 2009 08:00 | |||
 Spring Hill Elementary School students received a visit Thursday from someone about to turn 200 years old.Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States, stopped by to talk about his life and answer questions from children. When Lincoln, portrayed by Larry Greer, walked into the room dressed in a black suit and hat, the students became excited. He asked children to say facts about his life. One child with his hand raised was called upon and mentioned Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth on April 14, 1865, becoming the first American president to be assassinated. “Are you trying to tell me I’m dead,” Lincoln said, before the children began laughing at his response. Other children touched on Lincoln’s birth in a log cabin, growing up and his height as the tallest person to be president at 6-foot-4. He later told the SHES audience about the bicentennial of his birthday, and the children were surprised. “You’re old,” a child from the audience said. He then talked about how things were different in the 1800s compared to 2009. When he was younger, the 16th president did not have video game systems such as Xbox and PlayStation. Once again, the children were surprised and talked amongst themselves. Lincoln said people in his time read books and talked to each other for entertainment. The visit became more serious when the president discussed the Civil War and slavery. The room became more quiet when he discussed how children and parents were sold and separated from their families. In explaining the war in a more simple way, he asked the children if they visited southern states such as Georgia, Alabama, Florida, South Carolina and Mississippi, and he discussed conflict between northern and southern states. “Those southern folks hated me so much my name was not on the ballot,” he said. “Before the election, there was threats against my life. That’s why I had to grow a beard.” Lincoln discussed the war being the bloodiest in American history and how family members disagreed and fought against each other. He later talked about feeling bad about the war but happy that something great came from it — The Emancipation Proclamation, a two part executive order issued by Lincoln. The first order, issued Sept. 22, 1862, declared slaves free in confederate states that did not return to the control of the Union by January, 1863. The second, issued Jan. 1, 1863, named states where it applied. Greer is an actor for the Kansas City Young Audiences, an organization established in 1961, to bring art programs to area school children. “I think he was one of the greatest people that our country produced and one of the greatest presidents we’ve ever had,” Greer said.
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