VILLA PARK : Students Get Real About Civil War

Students portraying Abraham Lincoln, later to become president of the United States, and Steven Douglas, senator from Illinois, re-enacted the historic Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1858 this week in the context of a cotillion at Cerro Villa Middle School.

Harkening back to the Civil War era, about 200 eighth-grade students presented the historic Lincoln-Douglas arguments about states’ rights and slavery, as well as dramatic monologues by other historic figures, science projects, a magazine, and music and dance reflecting the times.

“Mr. Lincoln,” said Douglas, played by 13-year-old Joey Sandberg, “I don’t consider the Negro my equal and I positively deny the Negro is my brother. . . . My principles will never change.”

Lincoln, played by 14-year-old Matt Riley, rebutted: “The Union must be preserved at all costs. I know that our country cannot endure forever as half free and half slave.”

Dressed in period attire, other students represented Unionists and Confederates including Gen. Robert E. Lee, Gen. William T. Sherman, Susan B. Anthony and Harriet Tubman.

Complete with Southern accent and hoop skirt, Megan Barker, 13, portrayed Mary Surratt, the only woman convicted and hanged in the conspiracy to assassinate President Lincoln.

“I am innocent,” she said. “I will always be innocent, and if it comes to that, I will die innocent.”

During intermission, students served smoked “wild” turkey, sweet potato biscuits, “Plimouth” succotash and other period-authentic foods to the more than 200 parents and friends in the audience.

The cotillion ended with Joey playing taps on his bugle and a faceless voice reciting Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address while a picture of the 16th President was displayed on stage and an empty rocking chair slowly swayed back and forth.

Amanda Doering, 14, played Tubman, a black woman who ran the underground railroad that brought hundreds of slaves north to freedom.

“Doing this cotillion was more fun than just reading about it. It made me learn more about the Civil War,” Amanda said.

Joey felt the same, saying it is “important for everyone to be aware of the era that shaped the whole history of the United States.”

The students worked in English, history and science classes to prepare for the evening’s historical recreation. In English class, students wrote articles, letters and stories, and edited and published a magazine containing Civil War news. Other students depicted the scientific knowledge of the era, including the discovery of certain germs and the science behind the weaponry of the time.

Preach Lyerla, the eighth-grade history teacher who organized the show, said the cotillion excited students to learn about the Civil War.

“I wanted total involvement from the students not only in the historical aspect but in the science and literature aspects of the time too,” he said.