Ms. Allen concludes the program by discussing 100 nights, held at gettysburg cemetery. District of columbia host this had event. As has made many, many, many painti paintings she also has been very active, being interviewed by cnn and had her paintings on in the Historical Society along with some other people you might have heard of, salvador dolly. He was there, too. In addition to all of this, she has a gallery up there, lincoln into art and shes also very active with the fellowship of pennsylvania. Shes on the board and Vice President of pennsylvania and also very active in the lincoln forum. A lot of us went this past year. I think we had a record turnout for the Lincoln Group going to the lincoln forum. Were going to try to beat that record this year in november. Wendy is involved in all of those. Tonight shes going to talk about her time talking about is going to talk about her lincoln art and maybe a little bit more than that, plus i think at the end well talk about the lincoln fellowship and her 100 nights of taps, which is a program that she runs in pennsylvania. So, please welcome wendy allen. Before i begin, i would like to thank david. Ive made his life miserable today. All weekend. Oh, all weekend, sorry. All weekend. Its an entire multimedia presentation with video and everything and im surprised hes still talking to me. David, thank you. Thank you, john, for all your patience as well. And its an honor to be here tonight, an extreme honor. Thank you for welcoming me to your event tonight. Its going to be multimedia and i hope you enjoy it. Several years ago, harold holser contributed an essay to lincoln new perspectives on lincoln and his world. In it i found this extraordinary little nugget with a particular photo session lincoln sat for, for Alexander Gardner studio here in washington on november 8, 1863. Because few have recognized, much less understood the sculptors role in sending lincoln to the gallery and posing for the portraits there, Sarah Fisher Ames received none of the credit that she deserves. Titled mrs. Ames and mr. Li lincoln. Masterpieces that harold was talking about is now what most people agree is the most iconic photo that lincoln has ever taken, the gettysburg portrait. Socalled because it was taken ten, some people say 11 days before he left to dedicate the new National Cemetery. I thought another woman, another artist that close to lincoln wanting and working to capture that face i guess you could say i had been starving for another womans voice. What i wouldnt have given to be a fly on the wall in that studio that day. But let me be clear, im not out to diminish Alexander Gardners genius in any way, but how this obscure woman artist was responsible for one of the greatest, most iconic photos, not just of lincoln, but of the history of photography. Who was Sarah Fisher Ames . She became part of the elite art and circles in boston, roam, washington, d. C. , then known as washington city. In 1845, she married a portrait artist and they left the states to go to rome which in the mid 1800s was considered the art capital of the world. Paris didnt inherit that title until later. Another reason for going to rome was that women had far more artistic freedom there than they did in the states. In rome sarah studied ancient and renaissance art and got to know some american artists who were there working and studying. Sarah and joseph came back to the states some time in the late 1850s and settled in boston. When the war began, sarah volunteered as a nurse and she and her husband move d to washington. By some accounts in 1862, she was put in charge of cleaning up the u. S. Capitol building. This is kind of fuzzy sketchy, but there are thoughts that this is where she was. Apparently soldiers moved into the building and completely trashed it, especially offices of the former southern congressmen. They urinated in the hallways, spit tobacco everywhere and damaged scaffolding by swinging on the rafters that had been set up in the capitol dome which at the time was still under construction. When sarah started mucking out the building among other things she found what was meat precious meat that had been left rotting. Some scholars think this is probably where sarah met and became friends with president lincoln. She gave a lot of time to the war effort she was still a working artist and at some point had tried to persuade the president to sit for her to create a bust from life but lincoln was too busy. He didnt have time to sit for the sculpture. He also felt that she want ed t do a very classical portrait and he felt it just wasnt a good idea to have a woman sculpt artist watching him probably not having clothing on top, so that was not a proper way to interact. So he agreed to have a series of photograph portraits taken of him at Alexander Gardners studio. On november 8th, 1863, john haye, lincolns private secretary escorted mrs. Ames to gardners studio. President lincoln and john nicolay soon arrived after them. Here there are two conflicting stories. Noah brooks in 1895 describes being there that day. He gets the date wrong and a lot of people, including myself, i dont believe he was there. He was recollecting much later than the time. He said lincoln was sitting there. If you see that photograph of Lincoln Signature like an envelope, he says thats everetz copy of the gettysburg address and lincoln was going to read it but at that point in 1863, everett was still working on the speech. I dont think noah brooks was there. Theres nothing in nicolays diary to suggest he was there. Although, he does brooks does say he was there. Anyway, lincoln and john nicolay im sorry, lincoln and john nicolay soon arrive after them. Five photographs of lincoln were taken during this summer sitting. Two of the photographs were paid for by mrs. Ames. By paid for, i believe she retains copyright to those two images. Little different in those days. She also obtained and the p copyright to both. Lincoln gettysburg was hers, often discussed in art history as being the first great modern photograph and, yes, it is true. But i believe, as do others, that the photo was taken under strict direction of mrs. Ames for getting exact facial measurements. She didnt have the right measurements of lincoln. You know lincolns face. She wanted exacting measurements of that face. So, she asked gardner to shoot this very close photograph. And i was just reading today about how gardner probably didnt even realize how great the photograph was that he had until someone actually had a really tight crop of that beautiful photograph. Originally the photograph is full, pretty deep down his chest for mrs. Ames to get the chest dimensions as well. With the aid of these two photographs, Sarah Fisher Ames went on to produce halfsize busts crudely modeled and intended for purchase by middleclass collectors and Abraham Lincoln was also very intrigued by that. He thought for election time if people had his sculpture in their houses it might help his campaigning. Produced in europe and they sold for between 5 and 10 a piece. Harold, i believe, just sold his. He had one in his collection he recently sold. I would have loved to have seen it. I didnt get a chance to see it. And they were a hit. Ames acquired substantial notoreity and got more commissions. Now my artist pursuit begins. I am an artist and paint the face of Abraham Lincoln. The winters of 1978 and 1979 in connecticut were two of i dont know if anybody remembers, the worst winters i can remember. I had no money and my car was pretty broken down. But with little cash and hopes of a new beginning, i drove out to california and my wonderful older sister, who is here today, took me in while i looked for a job. It took about a month and i landed an opportunity with a publisher and found a little studio apartment in mountainview, california, that right now is about a quarter mile from google. I didnt have experience in design or publishing but they gave me a chance and i was working with incredibly interesting and talented artists there and they opened my eyes to the art world. I never had an art class. Theres an incredibly vibrant art scene going on in San Francisco at the time. I was motivated so i went out and bought some canvases, some oil paint and i created some really, really bad art. My paintings were awful. I had never painted it, had an art class and didnt know what i was doing at all. The very first Civil War Institute at gettysburg college, the renowned lincoln scholar and historian, gabor boritt. It was really fun. Going to the institute rekindled my love for lincoln as well as awakening me to the fundamental issue i was having with modern and post modern art, and that was that it lacked representation of history. I returned to the bay area and i painted my first lincoln. But an artist must innovate. Renowned abstract expressionist once wrote, if the artist did not desire to change all art, he would never get past his love for the artist who first inspired him and be able to paint his own pictures. Whats very cool about elaine kunik, she was friends with john kennedy and would paint this was during the bay of pigs, and she painted him live and during this crisis. And he just loved having his working with her, getting his portraits. They had a show about a year ago in washington. Did you get a chance . I dont know if anybody saw that. It was an incredible show. They had this piece. I love elaine dekuning and think shes marvelous. In 2009 i had a chance to go to italy which curates contrary works of western art and i love modern art and love the kooky, crazy you throw it, i love it. Again, what bothers me about modern art, postmodern art is it really just lacks history. It seemed to me if contemporary artists had intentionally turned it seemed to me if contemporary artists had intentionally turned its back on history. I wondered how could they ignore the most important attribute that differentiates us from all other living species on this earth, our great and grand sense of history. At the same time, i started to closely study other painters work. I had a lot of catching up to do with my learning curve and a handful of artists really inspired my work, inspires me to paint. The first one was wayne tebow. He was out in San Francisco. Im sure youre familiar with his work. His painting applications and use of color are staggeringly beautiful. Thats one of my lincolns mimicking his style. I love i look at their paintings, i want to see how they work and then i go back and apply it to what i want to do. Another one was a west coast painter who recently passed away about a year ago, two years ago. Time flies. His figures, his human figures, they feel transparent to me and beautiful. And this is work that ive done based on his style. Then theres alan mcgee who lives in maine, works in maine. I got a chance to work with alan in publishing, an excellent illustrator. He also does these painting of rocks. I dont know if youre familiar with his work. Theyre gigantic, enormous canvases about the size of half that wall, divided in two. All he does are these paintings of rocks. Every painting is the same. When i saw yet a show at the San Jose Museum of modern art, and when i saw his show i was like, wow, okay, so you can stick to one subject and completely do it over and over again. I loved that concept. I got a lot of strength there. So lets see. Of course theres andy warhol, from pittsburgh. So am i. He loved to work with other painters and i loved his sense of pop style. And i incorporated that as well. And my most favorite painter, of course, van gogh. His works are jewels. I dont know if you noticed theres a new van gogh that not discovered but just decided it was his work in amsterdam when he was in the asylum. Its a new story that broke today. Fascinating story. A lincoln based on van gogh. Im completely mess merized with the female abstract expressionists that now are coming into their own. Michael westwork, they had only nine of her paintings. Michael west, her name was corrine west but she changed it because she was in new york in the 40s, painting with the big b boys and she felt she would have a better chance if she had a masculine name. Her works are amazing. People really dont know that much about her but she was a real innovator, just really fun. Her work is amazing. And thats my lincoln. Now i wonder how many people here know janet sobel. Probably nobody, right . Shes from ukraine. She came here to the states in the 40s. She was a painter. She was a housewife. She was a mom. She had five children, i think five boys, and she started painting with the kids. Actually, her son had a paint set and she started painting with his paint set. So, what she does is she here is janet. She starts splattering paint. And if you look at the date on that paint iing, the dates on tt painting is 1945. Peggy guggenheim discovers her. Her son gets Peggy Guggenheim to her studio, her house. She paints in her living room. She then offers janet a show. Janets english isnt that good. But Peggy Guggenheim, who has a gallery, is mess merized by her wor work. Youll never believe who comes to her show but jackson pollack. This is one of my lincolns based on her style of drip painting. But here are the two paintings side by side. Jackson pollack janet sobels painting in 1945, jackson pollacks First Official painting is 1947. He never gives her any credit. She becomes ill and actually moves away to become to retirement. She does these beautiful if you look her up, she does beautiful splatter paint youings. He never really mentions her, gives her any credit as an influence. I dont want to take, again, anything away from jackson pollack. I dont think he invented the splatter painting. I think janet sobel invented splatter painting. He certainly borrowed it and applied it beautifully. He also was the supreme model of young, masculine strength in the 60s that was helping make the country that transitioned between world war ii and the 60s. He was exciting. And people loved him. And he was a real character. And thats when he became almost even as important as his paintings, but it is interesting. And this San Diego Museum of art has a little janet sobel painting on display now and they claim that is the first splatter painting, very adamant about it, and very excited they have it. Little thing, its about this big but they claim its the beginning of abstract expressionism. Theyre very proud of that. And then, of course, another influence getting back to Sarah Fisher Ames and one of the most iconic photos ever taken. The artist must soul search, and i do all the time. One of my most favorite authors is dr. Richard selzer, a surgeon in new haven, practiced at yale, a marvelous writer. He writes wonderful essays. The series of essays he has is called the exact location of the soul. He concludes that the human soul i love this resides in its wounds. He says whenever he performed surgery on somebody and then he watched them heal, he knew that where he helped that patient overcome their wounds is where the human soul is that persistent thirst for life. He said the strength and character of the soul are shaped by the wounds it works to overcome. I love that. So i apply that in searching for americas soul. According to dr. Alan galzo in his book fake lightning liberty and democracy that over time were interpreted differently in the north and south. In the north these principles fostered a belief of free labor and growing mistrust in human bondage. In the south they produced a dedication to states rights and defensive posture on slavery. According to the 1860 census there were over close to 4 million enslaved humans here in america. Final compromise was impossible and the civil war began. Then according to the Civil War Trust recently, the union and Confederate Forces collided in gettysburg on july 1, 2 and 3. 165,620 soldiers engaged in the battle throughout the small pennsylvania town and huge numbers of camp laborers, including 10 to 30,000 slaves were forced to serve the southern army. The union and confederate armys had a combine d 10 thorks 790 captured or missing over 72 hours of fighting. Of the wounded approximately 14 died gruesome deaths at impromptu hospitals over the next few months. And when the battle ended and the surviving soldiers retreated the fields around gettysburg were in complete desolation. A nurse from upstate new york, according to historian carolyn cameron, she found wounded men lying in the streets and feared walking on them as she pass by. Buckland say they lay uprooted like trees from a tornado and their lives slowly ebbed away. She was very young. She was very tough. There are some great, she recounts, arguments with doctors and so on but she held her ground. She was pretty tough. Very young, though, in her late 20s. For the first time soon after the conflict when the evidence of the horrid carnage lay on every hand in fearful sights. I had grown familiar with death. Thats a picture of sophrania. I had grown familiar with death in every shape yet when right before my head at one place so close it touched me, the dead hand protruding from the worn and blackened cuff, i could not but feel a moment of shudder. Whole bodies were flattened against rocks, shapeless mass as though thrown by a giant hand, their awful sight in their battered and decaying condition. For many of the legs were thrust above, covering arms and hands were lifted up as though pleading to be assigned enough earth to keep them from the glare of the day. I would say a deep wound. November 18th, 1863, president Abraham Lincoln arrives in gettysburg to make a few appropriate remarks at the dedication of the newly opened National Cemetery the next day. And i believe, here we go. This is my image of lincoln. I believe americas soul can be found in gettysburg. I believe that americas soul was defined by the wounds of the civil war. It was born at the precise moment lincoln concluded his gettysburg address on november 19, 1863. The strength and character of his words shaped by the horrific battle that has never taken place on this continent nobled the nations sacrifices made true our sacred charters of freedom, the declaration of independen independence, the constitution and forever changed the course of American World history American History and world history. So why do i obsessively paint Abraham Lincoln . Because im painting the exact location of americas soul. Resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation under god shall have a new birth of freedom and the government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth. 92. [ applause ] before i begin the second part of my talk, does anybody have any questions theyd like to ask . Yeah . [ inaudible question ]. Yeah, theyre like my children and i dont put them for sale. Sounds very strange, until im really, really happy with them. And favorite, i didnt have a favorite until about two years ago. I painted a very large canvas. Its now in a building. You can see it from a square in gettysburg. The corporation there in the square bought one of the paintings. Its very fast. Very freeflowing. I love the colors. I knew when to stop. So im very happy with that painti painting. How many painting, probably close to 400 now. I saw it in the pictures i do school visits. I just wondered how they react in any stories that you might have their reaction. They go nuts. I do kcollege. Even the young kids, i bring giant blowups of my paintings and turn them around. I have the kids help me. You know, yeah, and we talk about the gettysburg address, yea like fun. The High School Kids are interested because they want to know about the business of art. So we get into that. So thats kind of fun, too. You do one subject, so, lincoln, you look at somebody like monet who did one subject, is the water lilies, i dont know how many times. Right. But theyre all the same style. Right. Whereas, yours, you have a multitude of different styles. Thats what i thought would be my direction being a postmodern artist. Take one subject i do paint other things but my focus has been lincoln. Take one focus and then different styles. Tackle the styles. I thought that was sort of flipping art on its you know around. From one style to another, like you do one, one style and then another, another style, you dont do all one style . And then all another style . No, like right now, because its the winter time. And this is when i do my painting. Ive got five canvases going on. Ive got different styles. Ive even got different mediums. Ive been wasnting a lotmost of tho most of those paints are done in acrylic. Its recently. I like to experiment with media as well. I was trying to figure out how i felt as each of those pictures went up, for almost all of them, it Getting Better and better. Wow, this making me feel right, good. I had a different reaction to the one where he was faded. You spoke highly of the womens style that you were trying to adapt there. But just seeing him almost disappear from the picture. That to me was not the lincoln that i wanted to see. But im sorry. [ laughter ] but perhaps it is more emblematic of what we have today. The article that i passed around. Where everybody is trying to grab a piece of the guy. Yes. And he is disappearing from us as a result. Thats been the theme of my artwork recently. Ive been painting these paintings of lincoln on ive been using paneling. Wood. Then i paint over it. Then i scratch often the paint as appearing, like trying to find lincoln again. To your point. Now, the one you mentioned about being faded and dark faded away. That painting doesnt come across really well on the screen as it is in real life, when you see the painting. It was really, really hard to do. That was one of the most difficult paintings id ever done, within the color palette, you could still tell it was lincoln. A very difficult painting. What are you doing when youre painting more vibrant or less vibrant . Sheer join. When i was in athlete, i was about athlete, they talk about being in the zone. That muscle memory feeling. That same sort of feeling where youre not really thinking, youre just painting. You have an obsession with the looking at him. Something about his eye. And the eyes i think are not symmetrical. But theres a sadness. Theres a depth. You can give us input on just kind of capturing his eyes in all of these different styles. I think we can all feel that way when we look at his p portrai portraits. Most were taken for scrap, artist scrap. Its so funny, all of the stories about him feeling he was ugly and the stories about him being ugly, nothing could be further from the truth for me. He is one of the most human beautiful faces i have ever seen. And, yeah that one eye that floats. And well, they said he was very good on the camera, too. Im sure you all know that too. He loved having his photos taken. It was once described like he was looking down the barrel of the gun. He was very good at having his photograph taken. And he loved it. But he has a stunning face. Even though it feels very flawed, its not flawed at all. I think you can get a sense of his face, with the compassion and empathy. Its a very trusting face i think. Because you look at other photos taken during that time, even with the same black and white feeling, you dont get that same feeling you get from lincoln. And maybe thats because of all of the great things he did. He has a wonderful face. Im just drawn to it. Its just beautiful. Its a beautiful american face. The other thing in the gallery, we get people coming in from all over the world, coming into the gallery. Oh, people love lincoln. Oh, my goodness, we have friends come from china, visitors, they i have a poster of the gettysburg address as one of my paintings. They have to leave with the gettysburg address. Its marvelmarvelous. I will move on to my next presentation about the 100 nights at taps i might need your help, david. Ill first explain my work with the lincoln scholarship. You stay at the mic. Yeah. Vice president of the lincoln fellowship of pennsylvania. The main mission is dedication day. November 9th, 1863. November 19th every year, annually, its a wonderful program, im sure many of you have been through dedication day. I have the honor as being the emcee which i love. And its been a real honor to do that. We also contribute to the traveling trunk that the National Park service at the gettysburg Military Park sends to schools. Its a wonderful program. We support that. And we also support, you know, the Lincoln Statue down in the square . Thats our statue and we maintain that statue. I think that has to be really even though gettysburg is the largest statue garden in the world, considered i think that statue in the square is probably the most photographed statue in gettysburg with tourists. Then a few years ago, lets see, this will be our fourth year, well, ill just begin with the program. Its 100 nights of taps. Gettysburg, this year it will be 2020. In the summer of 2001, i visited the very special world war i battlefield in epra, belgium. After touring the battlefield, i witnessed the most amazing ceremony, i witnessed the last post at the men in gate. Its full name is the men in gate at the missing. And the graves are unknown. In 1928, a year after the inauguration, at the menin gate memorial, a number of prominent citizen of many ypres said there should be a way to honor the brave who died. They chose monday evening at 8 00. With the fascination by the germans, when the Early Service was conducted by the military ceremony in surrey, england, this ceremony has been carried on uninterrupted. And when the germans occupied ypres, they never missed a night. When the polish forced liberated it, at the gate, despite the fact of heavy fighting still taking place in the other side of town. 2009, i brought this type of ceremony to the gettysburg Military Park. And i was graciously turned down. Clearly, i know why, because i didnt have enough thought behind it. And i put too much of the burden on the program, with the already burdened park service. But i carried the idea around with me every day. And in the summer of 2016, i brought the idea in the form of a more fleshedout proposal to the lincoln fellowship during one of our summer retreats. I got the boards full support then i reached out to gettysburg great bugler jeffrey spangler, he put me in touch with the most renowned bugler in america. Hes really quite amazing. Anyway, he was up in my studio the next day and he gave 100 support to the program. He is retired from the United States air force where he served 23 years as a trumpeter, a drum major and staff arranger with the United States air force band in washington, d. C. Hes nationally and internationally recognized as the leading expert on military bugle calls. And finally in 2017, we launched one hundred nights of atp taps gettysburg. Evening between memorial day at 7 00 p. M. , you can relinquish the noise to witness the sounding of taps. Ive had the honor to participate in this moving ceremony almost 300 times clearly by now. Even though the actual ceremony stays the same, every evening is different. These gifted musicians, these buglers, whose patriotism brings them to the cemetery by honoring our veterans by sounding taps. They sound the oneminute call for gratitude. And the oneminute call for guests in attendance. These musicians travel from all over the nation to be there and im overwhelmed by the love and devotion. Thanks to the vision of glenn keim, we also Honor Service members by bringing them up front to pose with the bugler, and this should make us all feel really good. Large group of tourists along with local regulars make their way to the ceremony. I also witness every bugler greeting each and every one after the ceremony. Interestingly many of the tourists are from Different Countries and theyre equally moved by the ceremony by the sacrifice of the brave soldiers buried there in the gettysburg National Cemetery. And theyre deeply moved by the words spoken by lincoln in 1863. They want to stand where he stood. And this should make us all feel really good. By late august, shade covers the spot where i stand to trout bugler. I can finally see the audience without squinting. The cemetery is at rest. Its quiet. Its beautiful. Its the very definition of american elegance. Its calm and serene. The 17 sascred acres create a place that is better for the people. My goal for the program is the same as last year, its commitment to strengthening its core components most notably through financing to make sure this program endures. Im in the process of reaching out to gettysburg hotels to offer reduced rates for buglers. The mcdonalds now offers our buglers free meals which is really cool. This meant a lot to our participants. Ultimately, i must just get out and fund raise. One of the most beautiful scenes to unfold at the monument occurs in late august. This beautiful monument becomes rapt by the way, this is the symbolic place where lincoln delivered the gettysburg address. The bugle monument comes wrapped in full shade, except for the liberty statue at its top. Even before the presentation, before i will introduce the bugler, i stop the sound and make the people in the audience look because theyre not seeing the statue. When they see the statue, i can hear an audible gasp, when they sue how beautiful it is being lit up like that. Its a stunning sight. In its most organic display i stand in honor by the sacrifice of freedom given by the solids entere interred here. I give thanks to the veterans and the gettysburg Memorial Park for supporting this poignant ceremony and coming together to honor the brave and quiet light. [ inaudible ]. We here resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain. That this nation under god should have a new birth of freedom that a government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not vanish from here. [ applause ] [ playing taps ] thank you. [ applause ] i hope youll come and join us this summer for one hundred nights of taps. Its a beautiful ceremony. Thank you. [ applause ] wendy, thank you very much. Most of our meetings deal with talking about lincoln, the man of ideas. What youve shared with us tonight, i found, profoundly moving. In realizing that how that man is portrayed, the image that he leaves is as important as supporting the words that we know he left with us. The idea of the taps program bringing into current generations, down to the last generation, the impact of his words at gettysburg is astounding. Thank you very much for what youve done. And for sharing that with us tonight. Id like to you accept this token of our appreciation. Thank you. Thank you very much. [ applause ] is there any other business to come before us this evening . I declare this meeting of the Lincoln Group of the district of columbia adjourned. Youre watching American History tv covering history cspan style. With event coverage, eyewitness accounts, archival films, lectures to museums and historic places. All weekend, every weekend, on cspan 3. Next on history bookshelf, Erica Armstrong dunbar talks about her book never