News

Kentuckian portrays Douglass 'to reach out to young people'

Posted February 12, 2008 10:00 pm

Chris Dettro

The man in the bright red vest with the white mane of hair waxed eloquent, as did his on-stage counterpart, a friend who just happened to be having a birthday.

For 90 minutes, they spoke about their troubles, their friendship and the circumstances that brought them together.

The roomful of people listening was rapt with attention - not easy to accomplish when your audience is about half grade school-age kids and you're in the persona of someone who died more than 100 years ago.

Michael Crutcher Sr., in the role of abolitionist Frederick Douglass, and internationally known Abraham Lincoln impersonator Fritz Klein performed "A Friendship Unique" at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum Tuesday as part of Lincoln's Birthday events there.

Crutcher, a Kentuckian making his first visit to Springfield, began doing Civil War re-enactments at Camp Nelson Heritage Park in Kentucky about seven years ago. His great-great-grandfather, Daniel Gilchrist, was a member of the 13th U.S. Colored Troops Heavy Artillery, based at Camp Nelson, during the Civil War.

"I was going to portray him, but somewhere along the line I was seeking and praying for a vehicle to reach out to young people," said Crutcher, who himself is retired from the Army. "Frederick Douglass answered my prayer."

He's been impersonating Douglass, a leader of the anti-slavery movement and one of the most powerful speakers of his time, for more than three years.

Crutcher, 58, already had white hair, but he had no idea what he'd look like with Douglass' longer hair. So he bought a wig to hasten the transformation.

"My wife wouldn't let me wear it out of the house," he said. "I bought it at a costume store, and it was called 'The Promoter.' You can guess - I looked like Don King. I tried everything to make it stay down. Finally my wife said, 'Just let it grow. He didn't always have long hair.' "

Like Klein's Lincoln, Crutcher in character bears a striking resemblance to the man he portrays.

Crutcher worked with Klein as Lincoln for the first time in November at The Lincoln Museum in Forth Wayne, Ind. Crutcher said he performs in the Washington and Baltimore areas quite a bit. His usual program consists of him telling Douglass' life story.

"I try to relate the struggles he had, the importance of education to him, as well as his faith and religion," Crutcher said.

Crutcher quotes directly from Douglass' speeches on three occasions during his performance with Klein.

"I have read and heard that he was very eloquent and deliberate," Crutcher said. "I sense and feel that perhaps this is the way he was."

Douglass was known as an early advocate of education for blacks, and Crutcher echoes those sentiments more than 100 years later.

"I really, truly believe in this education business," said Crutcher.

He has been asked to bring his performance to Ford's Theater in Washington, where Lincoln was shot, once renovations there are complete. But performing at the presidential museum has been the highlight of his career to date.

"Other than performing at Ford's Theater, it doesn't get any better than this," Crutcher said.

Chris Dettro can be reached at (217) 788-1510.

Bio box I

Frederick Douglass was an escaped slave who became one of the country's foremost orators and abolitionists during the mid-1800s.

He was born in a slave cabin in Maryland in 1818 and was separated from his mother when only a few weeks old. He eventually was sent by his master to Baltimore to be a houseboy for the Auld family. Sophia Auld taught him the alphabet, and he took it upon himself to learn more.

He later was returned to the eastern shore of Maryland as a fieldhand. He escaped in 1838 by impersonating a sailor. He went to New Bedford, Mass., and he and his wife started to raise a family. He later became a lecturer for the Massachusetts anti-slavery society, which led him to public speaking and publishing.

Douglass was an early advocate for the desegregation of schools and for women's rights.

Douglass met with President Abraham Lincoln in 1863 to discuss treatment of and equal pay for black soldiers, and later with President Andrew Johnson on the subject of black suffrage. He was a trusted adviser to Lincoln.

Douglass published several newspapers, including The North Star, participated in the first women's rights convention in 1848, and wrote three autobiographies.

He became U.S. marshal for the District of Columbia, recorder of deeds for Washington, D.C., and minister-general to the Republic of Haiti.

Bio box II

Michael E. Crutcher Sr., 58

Family: wife, Tinsea, and six children, all college age or older.

Home: Nicholasville, Ky.

Before: retired from the U.S. Army and former assistant professor at the University of Kentucky's Lexington Community College.

Now: does historic presentations as the "Spirit of Frederick Douglass." Also has "day job" as health benefits representative at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Lexington, Ky.

Quote: "I tell young people if they do not educate themselves, they risk being slaves to ignorance, to poverty, to crime, to drugs and alcohol."

Article Categories
News