Christian Johnson brings Abraham Lincoln to life.
By:Michael Maugeri
BORDENTOWN CITY Talking to actor Christian Johnson after his portrayal of Abraham Lincoln at the MacFarland Junior School, I could easily see that becoming a historical person for 30 minutes is much more than a professional career for him.
When researching the histories and lives behind his subjects, he is able to almost experience that person’s joys and triumphs.
And the positive traits of his subjects seem to become a part of Mr. Johnson, nourishing him from the inside out.
"I look at history from a humanistic point of view," he said, still in large black top hat and false black beard, which looked incredibly itchy but didn’t seem to bother him. "Throughout time, there have been the seven deadly sins, and boy, they can come up and change the world.
"But Lincoln stands above it all. He didn’t seem to have any hatred, except for when he saw slave auctions as a child. That’s what I really admire about him, his lack of the seven deadly sins.
Seventh-grade students in teacher Ellen Wehrman’s world cultures class talked to "Honest Abe" last week, bringing history alive and asking questions about the Civil War, slavery and other aspects of the life of arguably our most beloved president.
Mr. Johnson has traveled throughout the country portraying various historical figures, but February is his Lincoln season, as the president’s birthday was Feb. 12.
At 6 foot, 3 inches, Mr. Johnson has Mr. Lincoln’s height and lean build. And while we don’t really know what Mr. Lincoln sounded like, Mr. Johnson uses the deep-throated, confident timbre one imagines for our 16th president.
But the voice didn’t intimidate the students, as their questions for him ranged from the thought-provoking to the humorous, relaying facts many of us know from history books and revealing many things about Mr. Lincoln that the average person … all right, I … did not know.
Hat man
I was pleased when student Zachary Bohanan asked, "Were you ever teased about your hat?" because it seemed exactly like something I would have said as a seventh-grader to get a laugh.
And the class did laugh. But Mr. Johnson not only handled it gracefully, a fascinating anecdote followed.
"It keeps me warm and it keeps the sun out of my eyes," said Mr. Johnson, moving slowly and majestically across the room. "The reason why it’s so high is because that was the fashion of the times."
He explained that while on horseback outside of Washington, D.C. on his way to visit wounded soldiers, his hat fell off. The fact that his hat was so tall saved his life.
"I got off my horse, picked it up and could see daylight through it," he replied. "Someone knocked off my hat with a bullet."
Student Christine Farina asked Mr. Lincoln if there ever was a time he regretted being president.
"I regret there was someone out there that didn’t want me to live any more," he said, referring to his assassin, John Wilkes Booth, who shot Mr. Lincoln in a theater on April 14, 1865. Mr. Lincoln died during the early-morning hours the next day.
"I would have liked to have lived a little longer to heal the country (after the Civil War). I regret (Booth) had so much hate because what keeps this country together is our love for one another."
Student Brittany Johns asked Mr. Lincoln what he disliked about being president.
"I didn’t like the way people in the newspaper business treated me like a back-country lawyer," he said, sternly. (Was he looking at me funny?) "They didn’t call me Abe Lincoln, they called me Ape Lincoln.
"Do I look like a monkey?" he asked the students, who, by their reaction, didn’t want to tell him the truth.
The actor
Mr. Johnson became a full-time actor in 1988 after leaving a production job at the Easy 101 radio station in Philadelphia ("Eaaaaaaasy 101," he crooned, laughing.)
The Cherry Hill resident trained at New York City’s Neighborhood Playhouse in the late 1950s. His classmates included Gregory Peck, Christopher Lloyd, Elizabeth Ashley, Brenda Vaccaro and James Caan.
He also has performed in numerous summer stock productions and studied dance with late dance icon Martha Graham.
In the past, he has performed throughout the country and in England as Patrick Henry, Charles Willson Peale and no doubt a delight to local residents Bordentown City resident and signer of the Declaration of Independence, Francis Hopkinson. Mr. Hopkinson is often credited with designing the original Stars and Stripes flag.
He said he is currently preparing to step into the 20th century, wanting to portray such figures as Henry Ford and Henry Flagler, a business partner of John D. Rockefeller.
"I like their stories because they’re rather scandalous, and, I don’t have to wear a wig," he said, laughing.
The question
Throughout Mr. Johnson’s performance at the school, I was waiting for one question to be asked, one of the questions that defined his presidency, and Chelsea Roberts asked it.
"What do you think about slavery?" she asked.
"I had to abolish it," Mr. Lincoln answered simply. "I wasn’t saying that it would take a short time to do. I knew we had to win a lot of battles before we won that war."
He explained when he signed the Emancipation Proclamation in 1862, he wanted to make sure no one had any doubts about his feelings to abolish slavery.
"When I signed my name I usually wrote it ‘A. Lincoln,’" he said. "This time, I picked up the pen and didn’t want anyone to mistake who signed it. I wrote out ‘Abraham Lincoln.’ That’s how much I believed in it."
Post-performance
After Mr. Johnson’s portrayal, I wanted to ask some of the students about what it was like to meet President Lincoln.
While his performance helped confirm the facts that Leia Wisniewski said she knew about his life, Jessica Looney said, "I didn’t really know much about him before, and I didn’t know he was only 56 when he died," she said.
"How he got his hat shot off surprised me," said Tyrell Langston. "He had an important role concerning the freeing of slaves. He changed history."
MacFarland’s principal, Dr. Norene Gerepka, said Mr. Johnson’s performance was exciting.
"He made President Lincoln come alive for my students," she said. "The responses he gave lent a lot of insight into his character."
Mr. Johnson can be proud of his accomplishment making a human connection. Abraham Lincoln would be proud, too.

