Dawn Bonker
Many Americans tend to think that Abraham Lincoln’s story ended when John Wilkes Booth fired that pistol. But think again, says Professor Richard Doetkott, who will portray the 16
th
president in Wilkinson College’s “A Night With … Abraham Lincoln” at 7 p.m. on Thursday, April 7, in Irvine Lecture Hall.
“That bullet caused a lot of damage that we’re still feeling today,” says Doetkott, who teaches speech studies in the Department of Communications. In the post-Civil War years Lincoln’s vision of reconstruction for the South was ambushed by political maneuverings that fostered deep divisions and hindered the South’s recovery, events that reverberate today, Professor Doetkott says.
Professor Doetkott uses Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address and other works in his speech classes, but the format of the “A Night With …” series, which has featured portrayals of various historic characters from Judas to Jane Austen, allows professors to imagine and present their subjects as if they were alive today.
“It gives a kind of connection … It’s not just scholarship. It’s entertainment, too,” he says.
Admission to “A Night With …” is free and open to the public.
Add comment