SPRINGFIELD — Lincoln Land Community College is participating in the commemorative events of the 2015 Lincoln Funeral Coalition Re-enactment.
Dr. Terry Alford, professor of history at Northern Virginia Community College, will be the featured presenter of the symposium on Thursday, April 23.
Dr. Alford will present at 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. in the Trutter Center at LLCC-Springfield, 5250 Shepherd Road. The event is open to the public and admission is free.
“Assassination and Conspiracy” is the theme of the symposium. Dr. Alford, in his presentation, “,” will discuss new discoveries and thoughts on old understandings of the young man who committed the most consequential murder in American history.
The presentation will feature actors portraying individuals who witnessed Lincoln’s assassination. Actors include:
- LLCC alum Matthew Reuker portraying Harry Clay Ford, treasurer of Ford’s Theater
- LLCC Community Education student Terry Jones as James P. Ferguson, owner of restaurant/tavern next door to Ford’s Theater
- LLCC Academy of Lifelong Learning member Mary Disseler portraying Katherine M. Evans actress waiting in the green room to go on stage in “Our American Cousin”
- LLCC staff member Kevin Lust as Joseph A. Stewart, an attorney attending the play
- LLCC student Elizabeth Roehrs portraying Julia Shepherd, a New York visitor attending the play.
Dr. Alford is a nationally recognized scholar on John Wilkes Booth and the Lincoln assassination.
He has appeared on “20/20,” ABC News, the History Channel, the Discovery Network and PBS. He is the author of “Fortune’s Fool,” Alford’s biography of Booth. It is the first full biography of Booth ever written that offers new information on the Booth family’s acting careers and relationships and 19th-century theater history.
Dr. Alford also authored the award-winning book, “Prince Among Slaves.” It is a celebrated story of an African royal enslaved in the antebellum south.
He holds a doctorate in history from Mississippi State University and also studied family history at the University of California at Davis.
The event is being sponsored by the LLCC Logger Activities Board and 2015 Lincoln Funeral Coalition. It is supported by the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Foundation.
Call the LLCC Student Life Office at 217-786-2241, if you have any questions about the symposium.
