Learning about history

Students and residents can see history come to life Monday evening when one of the country's most famous presidents and a former Dakota Territory governor speak about life in their time at Williston State College.

WSC is hosting "An Evening with Abraham Lincoln" Monday evening at 7 p.m. in The Well.

The event is free and open to the public.

WSC assistant history and political science professor Richard Stenberg said the event is a chataqua-style, or first-person presentation of President Lincoln.

Performing the character of Lincoln is Dr. George Frein, a retired English professor from the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks.

"Frein is retired from UND, but he has traveled all over the country doing these chataqua-style presentations. We're very fortunate to have been able to get him here," said Stenberg.

Stenberg said Frein's performance centers around Lincoln's life and times, as well as the incredible challenges he faced with the Civil War.

"There's a parallel between him and the leaders of today, a president dealing with a crisis. You look at Lincoln and what he faced and you wonder how do you deal with that?," said Stenberg.

Joining Frein onstage is Dr. Jerry Tweton, a retired UND history professor and historical consultant for the North Dakota Humanities Council.

Tweton is doing a presentation as Dr. William Jayne. Jayne was Lincoln's personal physician and was appointed as the first governor of the Dakota Territory, serving from 1861-1863. He also served as the territory's delegate for 15 months from early 1863 to mid-1864, in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Tweton is doing a brief presentation in the role of Jayne, discussing what it was like in the Dakota Territory in his time and then is to introduce Lincoln.

Stenberg said the presentation took some time to put together. He and David Richter, WSC Workforce dean, attended a conference in New York City in January that had talks about resources teachers can use to teach history.

"We came away from that pretty excited," said Stenberg.

Stenberg said they originally tried to get Frein last February when the bicentennial of Lincoln's birth was being celebrated. He knew Tweton, formerly being a teaching assistant of his, and they also had the contacts through the Humanities Council.

Stenberg said the WSC Concert Choir is performing period pieces for about 10 minutes to start the program. Then Tweton come out before introducing Frein.

Frein is to perform as Lincoln for about 40 minutes, do a question-and-answer session in the role of Lincoln for 10 minutes, then do another question-and-answer session as himself.

"Afterwards, people can come up and ask questions during the reception in a more intimate setting. Sometimes, people don't want to ask questions while in a crowd, so this will allow for more of a comfortable exchange," said Stenberg.

Stenberg said students and residents alike are invited.

"It's educational as well as entertaining. These are the kinds of events we try to bring here. It's living history," said Stenberg.

Stenberg added it wasn't confirmed as of Thursday, but they may be able to secure a traveling exhibit of display items from the era for high school students and teachers to view on Monday.

Funding for the event is possible through a grant from the North Dakota Humanities Council, the Great Northwest Education Cooperative, North Star Caviar, Williston State College and the WSC Foundation.