PHOTO: THE PICTURE ART COLLECTION/ALAMY STOCK PHOTOTHE BACKSTORY
AS LINCOLN REENACTORS, THESE AMERICANS DRESS
THEMSELVES IN THE PAST TO CONVEY VALUES FOR TODAY.WHY LINCOLN? That’s the question
Greta Pratt asked the costumed men
before her camera, all of whom com-
mitted a portion of their lives to a presi-
dent now gone for more than 150 years.
For these fans, Pratt learned, Abraham
Lincoln “embodies one of America’s
most cherished tenets: that the com-
mon man, through sheer hard work
and determination, can elevate his
status in society.”
At four annual conventions of the
Association of Lincoln Presenters, Pratt
met men and women who perform as
the president and first lady at schools,senior centers, and other venues. For
the portraits in her project, she framed
the men in softly focused, pastoral
backgrounds reminiscent of historical
paintings, and she challenged them
to “summon up your inner Lincoln.”
They did so gladly. “Lincoln brings
out the best in me,” says Illinois reen-
act or Randy Duncan (page 8). “He
probes the patriotism of each of us.”
Though her subjects began portraying
Lincoln for varied personal reasons,
Pratt says, they continue because he
helps them feel part of something
larger: a nation. —HICKS WOGANPROOF
The real Abraham Lincoln, above, sits for a portrait by Alexander Gardner in 1863.