Lincoln & Douglas presentation May 28 at Old State Capitol

[May 21, 2011]  SPRINGFIELD -- Men portraying political rivals and friends Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas will present a special program May 28 at 3 p.m. in the Hall of Representatives at the Old State Capitol State Historic Site in downtown Springfield.  The program is free and open to the public.

Tim Connors will portray Stephen A. Douglas and George Buss will portray Abraham Lincoln near the 150th anniversary of Douglas' June 3, 1861, death. Buss and Connors, both from Freeport, portrayed Lincoln and Douglas on the statewide tour in 2008 commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Lincoln-Douglas debates.

Douglas, one of three candidates Lincoln defeated in the 1860 presidential election, became a staunch Lincoln supporter and a vocal proponent of saving the Union as the Civil War approached. Shortly before Douglas' death, he returned to Springfield, where he had held several political offices, as part of his "Save the Union" campaign.

The May 28 presentation coincides with the special exhibit "The Shadow of a Giant:  Stephen A. Douglas" currently on display at the Old State Capitol State Historic Site and the Lincoln Home National Historic Site Visitor Center. The exhibit runs through Aug. 6 and features 30 original documents that span Douglas' long and varied political career, two oil portraits of Douglas, campaign prints and political cartoons, and a very rare plaster bust of Douglas from the 1860 presidential campaign.

Douglas was very familiar with the Illinois Statehouse, now known as the Old State Capitol State Historic Site. He served in the Illinois House of Representatives, as Illinois secretary of state and as an associate justice on the Illinois Supreme Court. These offices and his regular presence at the Statehouse put him in frequent contact with another person who was no stranger to its halls -- his political rival and later friend, Abraham Lincoln.

Douglas died at his home in Chicago shortly after his 1861 return to Illinois.

The Old State Capitol State Historic Site, administered by the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, was the seat of Illinois government from 1839 to 1876 and is open for free public tours.

The Lincoln Home National Historic Site, a part of the National Park Service, preserves the home the Lincoln family lived in from 1844 to 1861, before leaving for Washington. The Visitor Center at 426 S. Seventh St. in Springfield is open from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.

[Text from file received from the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency]