The 1994 reenactments of the Lincoln–Douglas Debates took place between August 20 and October 15, 1994, and were facilitated and aired by C-SPAN. They featured historical reenactors presenting, in their entireties, the series of seven debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas that took place during the 1858 U.S. Senate campaign in Illinois. The debate reenactments were held in the same seven cities as were the 1858 debates, and were performed on dates very close to the anniversaries of the original debates.[1] They were broadcast live on C-SPAN, and have been rebroadcast periodically ever since.
The inspiration for the series came from the book The Lincoln–Douglas Debates: The First Complete, Unexpurgated Text, edited by Harold Holzer. Holzer had been interviewed about that book the previous year on the C-SPAN series Booknotes.[2]
In 1993, C-SPAN staff approached the mayors of the seven cities in Illinois where the 1858 debates had been held (Ottawa, Freeport, Jonesboro, Charleston, Galesburg, Quincy, and Alton) and arranged with each city to recreate the debates using their own local resources. Subsequently, C-SPAN spent over $300,000 on the promotion and coverage of the debates and on the creation of related educational materials.[3]
The C-SPAN School Bus was used as a traveling television studio at each of the debate locations. Prof. John Splaine of the University of Maryland, College Park, was a consultant to C-SPAN and provided commentary on each of the debates.
| Original air date (links to video of debate) | 1858 debate date | Location | Debate preview | Debate review | Primary reenactors | Participants in pre- and post-debate discussions | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 20, 1994 | August 21 | Ottawa, Illinois | Preview | Review | Max Daniels as Abraham Lincoln Jim Gayan as Stephen A. Douglas | Harold Holzer | |
| August 27, 1994 | August 27 | Freeport, Illinois | Preview | Review | George Buss as Abraham Lincoln Richard Sokup as Stephen A. Douglas | Sen. Paul Simon, Rep. Don Manzullo, Roger Wilkins, Stephen Oates | |
| September 17, 1994 | September 15 | Jonesboro, Illinois | Preview | Review | George Buss as Abraham Lincoln Richard Sokup as Stephen A. Douglas | Edna Greene Medford, John Y. Simon, Howard Dean | |
| September 18, 1994 | September 18 | Charleston, Illinois | Preview | Review | B.F. McClerran as Abraham Lincoln Russel Brazzel as Stephen A. Douglas | Rep. Glenn Poshard, Donald A. Ritchie, David Zarefsky | |
| October 8, 1994 | October 7 | Galesburg, Illinois | Preview | Review | Michael Krebs as Abraham Lincoln Larry Diemer as Stephen A. Douglas | Roger Wilkins, Douglas L. Wilson | |
| October 9, 1994 | October 13 | Quincy, Illinois | Preview | Review | Jack Inghram as Abraham Lincoln Gary DeClue as Stephen A. Douglas | Harold Holzer, Sen. Carol Moseley-Braun | |
| October 15, 1994 | October 15 | Alton, Illinois | Preview | Review | Scott Mandrell as Abraham Lincoln Donald Lowery as Stephen A. Douglas | Edna Greene Medford, Sen. Paul Simon |