Hearing Abraham Lincoln’s Voice

[RJNorton]

Many thanks to Laurie for sending this link:

https://blogs.loc.gov/loc/2018/01/hearin...clr=ealocb

[GustD45]

If I could go back in time I'd just sit and listen to Mr. Lincoln speak. Probably drive me nuts but I'd love it.

[RobertLC]

Thanks Laurie and Roger for sharing.

Very interesting!

Bob

[LincolnMan]

His voice sure wasn’t like Raymond Massey- more like Henry Fonda

[LincolnMan]

Which actor portrayed the most realistic Lincoln voice (as far as can be assumed)? Daniel Day Lewis?

[Anita]

I agree with Holtzer.

"Of the actors who have played Lincoln, “Waterston catches it for me,” says Holzer. “Although he is from Massachusetts, he gets that twang down, and he’s got a high voice that sometimes lapses into very high.”

Actor Sam Waterston has played Lincoln on screen, in Ken Burns’ The Civil War and Gore Vidal’s Lincoln, and on Broadway, in Abe Lincoln in Illinois. To prepare for the role in the 1980s, he went to the Library of Congress and listened to Works Progress Administration tapes of stories told by people from the regions where Lincoln lived. (Some of the older people on the tapes were born when Lincoln was alive.) Lincoln’s accent was a blend of Indiana and Kentucky. “It was hard to know whether it was more Hoosier or blue grass,” says Holzer. The way he spelled words, such as “inaugural” as “inaugerel,” gives some clue as to how he pronounced them."

Read Holtzer's Ask an Expert: What Did Lincoln's Voice Sound Like?" https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/a...-13446201/

[LincolnMan]

(03-17-2019 07:44 PM)Anita Wrote:  I agree with Holtzer.

"Of the actors who have played Lincoln, “Waterston catches it for me,” says Holzer. “Although he is from Massachusetts, he gets that twang down, and he’s got a high voice that sometimes lapses into very high.”

Actor Sam Waterston has played Lincoln on screen, in Ken Burns’ The Civil War and Gore Vidal’s Lincoln, and on Broadway, in Abe Lincoln in Illinois. To prepare for the role in the 1980s, he went to the Library of Congress and listened to Works Progress Administration tapes of stories told by people from the regions where Lincoln lived. (Some of the older people on the tapes were born when Lincoln was alive.) Lincoln’s accent was a blend of Indiana and Kentucky. “It was hard to know whether it was more Hoosier or blue grass,” says Holzer. The way he spelled words, such as “inaugural” as “inaugerel,” gives some clue as to how he pronounced them."

Read Holtzer's Ask an Expert: What Did Lincoln's Voice Sound Like?" https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/a...-13446201/

Thanks for posting this. Harold Holtzer is awesome and most respected.

[Amy L.]

I am listening to Frances Fisher Browne's book in audio-version, and Bill Boerst does a nice Lincoln, I think. I doubt though that he can capture the President, because Mr. Boerst's natural voice is too deep.

https://librivox.org/the-every-day-life-...er-browne/

[RJNorton]

Thanks, Amy. There is an excellent source for folks interested in Lincoln's voice. The book is entitled Abraham Lincoln: Public Speaker by Waldo W. Braden. Chapter 8, entitled "Penetrating and Far Reaching: Lincoln's Voice," covers pages 96-103 of the book, and it includes numerous earwitness accounts of what Abraham Lincoln sounded like.

[David Lockmiller]

(09-02-2019 04:08 AM)RJNorton Wrote:  Thanks, Amy. There is an excellent source for folks interested in Lincoln's voice. The book is entitled Abraham Lincoln: Public Speaker by Waldo W. Braden. Chapter 8, entitled "Penetrating and Far Reaching: Lincoln's Voice," covers pages 96-103 of the book, and it includes numerous earwitness accounts of what Abraham Lincoln sounded like.

Roger, is "earwitness" a neologism? Or, does the word appear in the book Abraham Lincoln: Public Speaker? Neologism means "a newly coined word or expression."

[RJNorton]

David, the author writes (p. 98), "Although accounts of earwitnesses are difficult to find, it is not difficult to locate reminiscences that refer to Lincoln's voice."

[Gene C]

I haven't read this yet, but actor Frank McGlynn who portrayed Lincoln several times in plays and movies
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_McGlynn_Sr.

also wrote a book about portraying Lincoln titled "Sidelights on Lincoln". Below is the link to the chapter titled "Imitating Lincoln's High Pitched Voice" from Internet Archives
https://archive.org/details/sidelightson...gl/page/94

My personal favorite was his role in the Shirley Temple movie
"The Littlest Rebel" in 1935
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbrDWFMaD_8