Amanda Fraley

Mrs. Hermane
Scholarship English 11- 4
2 March 2015
In The Spotlight
Seventh grade year was one filled with both sorrow and joy, but one moment stands out
over the rest of my memories; my participation in the National Lincoln Oratory Festival. During
my middle schools years, my family was stationed in DC, and I attended Alice Deal Middle
School located in Fort Reno Park. White pillars made up the face of the school, with red bricks
as the body, and the green field of Fort Reno, a battle field used during the civil war, sprawling
out in front of the massive building. Living on Bowling Air Force Base required me to be bussed
out to my school every day, meaning I woke up daily at five in the morning to prepare for the
hour bus ride. While tedious, it was worth the waiting for the opportunities given by the location
of the school.
The National Lincoln Oratory Festival is an oratory festival in which students from all
over Washington, DC and states nearby gather in Ford's Theatre to recite speeches used to
commemorate Abraham Lincoln. Considered an honor, fifteen students from my class were
selected to memorize the Gettysburg Address, each of us were given a section from the speech to
remember. For two weeks, we met with a man from Ford's Theatre to understand the emotions
that needed to be conveyed in the words we were learning. While I do not remember much from
those breaks, I do remember that the instructor sent from the theatre had a tattoo of a slave ship
on his right forearm. When asked why he had such a large ship on his arm, he replied that it was
in memory of those that some men in the civil war fought for.

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The day of the speech giving was filled with both confidence and fear; after all, we were
going to be standing in the theatre were Lincoln was killed and reciting the speech that he is most
remembered for. Everyone gathered early in the morning to catch the bus that would transport
us downtown to the theatre, it was a chilly November morning, and the bus arrived late, nearly
causing us to arrive late to the theatre. We made in on time, however, allowing us to take part in
the free tour that was given to the participants.
Ford's Theatre, we learned, sat comfortably between different building with a brick road
in place of the normal black tar, with a small white sign hanging out over the entrance way with
the name printed on it. Inside, we were all given a ticket and shirt and stepped into the museum
section of the building, which began with a tree covered entranceway, not at all what anyone
expected. Mixed with papers and different artifacts from Lincoln's house, we learned all about
the life of one of America's most known president. My favorite part of the tour happened when
we walked into the actual main hall of the theatre, furnished with red velvet floors and ornate
chairs and pillars, with the balcony where Lincoln sat the night an attempt of his life occurred
decorated with a large American flag; a man came out on stage, dressed as Abraham Lincoln
himself, and a re-enactment was done of that fateful night.
The time came all too soon for us to gather our strength to go up on stage and show the
rest of the participates there the work in which we worked so hard to understand and memorize.
While it felt as though there were butterflies in my stomach, I took the stage with the rest of my
class, prepared to recite my line. At the end of the day, however, everything went smoothly, and
everyone remembered their lines perfectly, and when the last line was given, the audience stood
to give us a standing ovation.