Mr. Tad Allen has been portraying President Abraham Lincoln for over twenty years. Although he has always been a fan of the president, Allen only began impersonating Lincoln after growing a beard and being told by friends and colleagues of his strong resemblance. Since then the concept has really taken off.
A former assistant professor at Brevard Community College; Allen has done extensive research on our sixteenth president. He has devoted one room of his house to look-alike, where he maintains a library of nearly 800 publications on Lincoln and other memorabilia.
Allen’s extensive insight into all aspects of Lincoln’s life provides him the versatility to target his programs specifically to the audience at hand, thus making a dramatic impression on groups ranging from young children to senior citizens. He also offers a question-and-answer period afterwards, encouraging listeners to explore his wealth of knowledge about the president.
The audience becomes spellbound, as Tad Allen commands attention with his absolute look-alike manner and dress. An uncanny hush settles in, as Mr. Allen truly becomes “honest Abe”. Children blurt out, “I thought you were dead.” Adults express, “I felt that I was actually in the presence of Abraham Lincoln.” The most often expressed sentiment is, “You could have heard a pin drop during your performance.”
One of Allen’s greatest honors was being invited to perform in Lincoln’s hometown of Hodgenville, Kentucky for the Lincoln Days Celebration, where he won the National Abraham Lincoln Look-Alike Competition.
James Mack Adams is a retired business education teacher and a native of Virginia. He now lives near Savannah, Georgia but has roots in and is a frequent visitor to the East Tennessee area. After leaving the classroom, Adams became widely known throughout coastal Georgia as a historian, newspaper columnist, lecturer, author, and Robert E. Lee impersonator. Over the years, he has portrayed the revered Gen. Lee in talks and at festivals in Georgia, South Carolina, Florida, Tennessee, and Virginia. He has published three books on coastal Georgia history and is working on a fourth. He is a member of many history-related organizations and is the recipient of the Jefferson Davis Gold Medal, the highest award that can be presented by the National United Daughters of the Confederacy to a non-member. He was recently elected as an honorary associate member of Savannah’s UDC Chapter #2. A long-time member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, Adams’ SCV camp voted to award him the “Order of the Sword” in recognition for his writings, talks, and interpretations of Civil War History. He is also an associate member of the West Point Society of Savannah and has been honored by the Academy by being named a Friend of West Point. He has lectured as Lee to a class of West Point cadets. He has appeared as a teller of ghost stories on the History Channel and the Travel Channel.
Mary Fears, a retired Volusia County school media specialist, graduated from Bethune-Cookman College and Florida State University. After having earned a B.S Degree and Masters in Library and Information Science, she has become a professional storyteller, genealogist, and author of four books: The Jackson-Moore Family History and Genealogy. Slave Ancestral Research, It's Something Else.* Julie's Journey*. (an inspirational memoir about her daughter, Julie Anderson) and Civil War and Living History Reenacting About "People of Color" How to Begin - What to Wear - Why Reenact.* The author's fourth writing project involved research into the services rendered by "people of color" in the Civil War. As for all the educational storytelling programs she presents, knowledge gained from the research for the Reenactment book has become a part of her storytelling programs. Mrs. Fears specializes in telling stories based upon historic documents rather than fictionalized versions of African-American history. Mrs. Fears has presented genealogy lectures at local, state and national genealogy conferences. For over 30 years. she has presented storytelling performances in numerous colleges, universities, schools, museums, and historic sites supported by civic, social and religious organizations. She is committed to telling African-American history stories for the education of all listeners, adults and students. Mary is now promoting the recent released docudrama titled "Filling the Gap". Much of this DVD was filmed at Olustee and many of the "extras" are local reenactors and history enthusist.
