Thinkin' Lincoln for Presidents' Day

Virginia photographer Greta Pratt’s passion for Abraham Lincoln presenters began when she was working on “Using History,” her book exploring historical re-enactments across the United States.

“I was looking at what history is and isn’t,” Pratt aid. “And what our identity is as a people and how that is shaped by what we’re told is a history — but that telling is shaped by whoever is telling it.”

Out on the road, Pratt met her “first Lincoln,” Max Daniels, and their paths kept crossing. Daniels told Pratt about the Association of Lincoln Presenters’ aual conventions, so in 2000 she attended and shot the image, “Nine Lincolns,” which became the cover of her book.

“I was just looking at the picture and noticed how they all looked the same. Because of what they were wearing obviously, the accoutrements of the Lincoln hat and coat, but yet when you look at their faces they’re all really different. I started thinking about how this idea of Lincoln — any history that is told to a people — it’s something that binds people together and gives them a common identity. And so Lincoln, being big in our history, the idea of him binds us as a group,” Pratt said.

Pratt leaed that each of the Lincoln presenters had come to the calling for a different reason, but once they began reading about him and getting to know the speeches and the man behind them, they became passionate about re-enacting Lincoln to help keep his legacy alive.

“If you look at all the presidents, there’s nobody else that people re-enact,” Pratt said. “There’s a couple of George Washington presenters in the whole country. I think that Lincoln resonates with just your regular individuals, because he was a regular individual. He embodies the biggest tenet of American society, and that is you can come here and if you’re willing to work hard you can attain anything.”

Pratt’s most recent Lincoln photograph is “Thirty Lincolns.” You can see more of her work online at www.gretapratt.com.

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