February 12, 2016
John Kopp/PhillyVoice
An Abraham Lincoln impersonator waves to the crowd as he parades down Chestnut Street to celebrate Lincoln's birthday.
President Abraham Lincoln led a parade of Civil War Era re-enactors through Center City on Friday afternoon to celebrate the 207th anniversary of the great emancipator's birthday.
Honest Abe's impersonator wore gray sneakers, but with the mercury level reading 27 degrees, who can blame the man for wanting to traverse the nine blocks from the Union League to Independence Hall as comfortably as possible?
The parade, organized by the Union League's Abraham Lincoln Foundation as part of its annual Lincoln Day, included about 50 re-enactors dressed as a Union Army brigade. They marched down Chestnut Street as a band filled the air with the familiar notes of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic."
Civil War re-enactors travel by horseback on Walnut Street prior to the start of the Abraham Lincoln Parade in Center City on Friday
Curious pedestrians whipped out their smartphones and began filming videos, presumably to fill their social media feeds. One excited bystander called out, "Mr. President!" and Lincoln turned and waved. Apparently, "selfie," was not in his vernacular.
Re-enactors march down Chestnut Street to celebrate the birthday of Abraham Lincoln.
The procession concluded outside Independence Hall, where a short ceremony included the recitation of a pair of speeches Lincoln gave at the historic Philadelphia site in 1861 when he was making his way to Washington, D.C., as President-elect.
A drummer dressed as a Civil War soldier marches along Chestnut Street during Friday's Abraham Lincoln Parade in Center City.
The first speech, originally delivered by Lincoln inside the same room where both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were signed, briefly outlined his hope that the sentiments described in the Declaration could save a nation on the brink of civil war.
The second speech, delivered outside Independence Hall, commemorated Kansas' inclusion as the 34th state in the union. Four re-enactors portraying Buffalo Soldiers raised a flag.
With that, the re-enactors boarded a bus to lay wreaths at the Lincoln Memorial, along Kelly Drive. In such frigid temperatures, the more modern form of transportation sure beat marching there.
