Today is Abraham Lincoln's birthday! Did you know that he visited Romeo in 2000?
Ok, it wasn't actually him, but a professional actor who impersonated the 16th President of the United States came to Amanda Moore Elementary School in time for President's Day.
Karen Hamilton took this picture for the front page of the February 9, 2000 edition of The Romeo Observer. It shows a Lincoln impersonator putting on a performance for seemingly enthralled third and fourth graders at that school's gymnasium on February 1.
The newspaper provided more information on what happened that day. It mentioned that the Mobile Ed Productions of Redford put on a series of assemblies for all grades that day. One of them included Mr. Lincoln narrating his life from growing up in the backwoods of Kentucky to the Civil War years in the White House.
Considering that kids, especially third graders, learned about early American history at that time, having "President Lincoln" stop by was likely seen as neat.
Did Abraham Lincoln ever show up at your school growing up?
To learn more about how Romeo has celebrated Lincoln's birthday, you can contact the Romeo Community Archives at rca@romemodistrictlibrary.org or call (586) 690-4890. If you want to search for articles on that topic, you can find the Romeo newspapers like The Romeo Observer on the Suburban Library Cooperative's Local History Digital Collection website.
Images and sources courtesy of the Romeo Community Archives; Melvin E. and Joan D. Bleich Collection, The Romeo Observer, February 9, 2000, p.1-A