This year, on Saturday, April 29, Westfield-based nonprofit The Lincoln Special, in cooperation with Springfield’s Abraham Lincoln Presidential Foundation, will host three free commemoration events open to the public.
The daylong commemoration begins at 11 a.m. at the Indiana Statehouse, where world renowned Lincoln presenter Fritz Klein will portray the 16th president as part of an “AMA” (Ask Me Anything) event. From the Statehouse, the event continues at the Soldiers and Sailors Monument for an honorary wreath laying ceremony at 12 p.m, and concludes in Cambridge City, Indiana later that afternoon.
“Fritz Klein is the gold standard of all Lincoln re-enactors,” added Chris Allen, Executive Director of The Lincoln Special in Westfield. “We’re excited to have a friend like the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Foundation helping us.” Klein’s impeccable interpretations of Lincoln have been featured in Time Magazine, The Smithsonian Channel and The History Channel, as well as multiple C-SPAN presentations.
Below is a video from Time Magazine on Fritz Klein.
“It wasn’t just Lincoln’s body that came through here,” explained Allen. “It was everything Lincoln stood for—the Emancipation Proclamation, the 13th Amendment, and the Gettysburg Address—that came through here.”
The daylong event concludes in Cambridge City at 7 p.m. along the same rail bed traversed by the Lincoln Funeral Train in 1865. There, Klein as Lincoln will deliver a rendition of Lincoln’s Farewell Address, along with the “AMA” style of questions for the public.
“I know our ancestors would have given anything to give their thanks directly to President Lincoln and this is their chance, albeit through us, their descendants.” concluded Allen. “History has an echo. Our task is to make it heard.”
The Lincoln Special is an IRS approved 501(c)3 nonprofit based in Westfield, Indiana. For more information, please visit www.tearsandiron.com or call Executive Director Chris Allen at (317) 967.6190.