Lincoln Re-Enactor Heightens The Columns' Civil War Tribute
By Wayne Witkowski
The Pike County Dispatch
MILFORD -- He had a speaking engagement on April 14 at the Dingmans Ferry-Delaware Township Historical Society and another one this past Saturday with the Pike County Historical Society at The Columns.
And on Tuesday this week, he made a cameo appearance for host Jimmy Fallon's 10th anniversary celebration on the Tonight Show.
Lou Del Bianco of Port Chester, N.Y. has portrayed Abraham Lincoln for many thousands of school kids and history buffs for some 30 years. And he delivered a convincing performance of the famed Gettysburg Address as re-enactors of the Pennsylvania 142nd Regiment, which staged a Civil War era encampment, and the New York Zouave Regiment, a brigade of men wearing red uniforms who had served as firefighters before enlisting in the Northern army during the Civil War from 1861-65, stood at attention.
DelBianco captured Lincoln's physical characteristics all the way to his 6-feet, 4-inch height, the same as his subject, with the gaunt, bearded face and deep, measured tones in his voice. Wearing the characteristic long dark coat and big to;p hat, he delivered the relative brief historic address of Nov. 19, 1863 that drew cheers from the gathering toward the end as he said, "that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."
"He got old on the job," quipped DelBianco afterward
"He really knows a lot about Lincoln but he didn't know the Lincoln flag was at The Columns," said Tim Singleton, head of the Dingmans Ferry-Delaware Township Historical Society, referring to the flag draped around him when he was assassinated..
DelBianco actually evolved from professional actor to re-enactor in his career.
"My height worked against me" he said as it held him back at times from getting work in the theatrical field. "Then I realized I am the same height as Lincoln," a historical figure that always intrigued him.
So he immersed himself in the historical legend and lore of the 16th president of the U.S. and the tallest ever during a time when people were generally shorter in height than now, although George Washington, at 6-1, was not far behind in stature.
When he was asked about Americans regarding Lincoln as the greatest president, he replied with a smile, "He ended slavery and united the country. What's better than that?"