Craig Heberton talks about his book, "Abraham Lincoln at Gettysburg: A Review of Alexander Gardner's Stereoscopic Photos," Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2013, in Danbury, Conn. Photo: Michael Duffy
RIDGEFIELD -- Everyone knows that Abraham Lincoln was at Gettysburg for the dedication of its cemetery on Nov. 19, 1863. He spoke for two minutes, and Americans have been repeating his words ever since.
But where was Lincoln? How did he enter the speaker's platform? Who was he with?
On the whole, scholars agree one photograph byDavid Bachrach shows Lincoln in the center of the crowd at the dedication.
Craig Heberton IV said thinks he has found another. The Ridgefield man has published an e-book, "Abraham Lincoln at Gettysburg: A Review ofAlexander Gardner's Stereoscopic Photos." It's available at Amazon.com for $2.99.
"It's a book with a long title, but a cheap price," Heberton said.
His conclusions about Gardner's photos differ from those of the two men who have studied the picture most intensely -- historian James Richter andChristopher Oakley, an assistant professor and animator who teaches in the New Media Departmentof the University of North Carolina at Ashville.
Oakley's theories are the newest. An article in the October edition of Smithsonian Magazine details his ideas.
The three men have greatly enlarged sections of the Gardner photos -- taken at a distance from the crowd -- to find Lincoln. As a result, the pictures of the men they thought were Lincoln are grainy and inconclusive.
But Robert Zeller, president of the Center for Civil War Photography, which has long supported Richter, said a lack of conclusive results is no impediment to study.
"It's for the same reason Lincoln scholars study every scrap of words he wrote, or wrote to someone, or that someone wrote about him," Zeller said. "Lincoln stands at the pinnacle of American life. Maybe, only with George Washington."
Heberton began his study when a friend sent him Richter's examination of the Gardner photographs.
Heberton is a lawyer, not a historian. But, as suits his profession, he is great at research and has a passion for detail.
"I also have an intense interest in American history," he said.
He began his study by learning about Gardner, who started as a protege of Civil War photographer Matthew Brady, and branched out to become one of the best photographers of the day. He photographed the Battle of Antietam; his studio sent photographers to the field after the Battle of Gettysburg.
What Gardner was doing at the dedication of the cemetery was shooting stereographic images -- two images on the same scene that people could look at in a viewer called a stereoscope to give them the illusion of a three-dimensional image.
At the dedication, Gardner's camera was on a platform, forced to shoot at a distance from the crowd. His camera was positioned far to the right of where the speakers stood.
"They may have said, `Stay here. There's going to be a big crowd,'" Zeller said.
Gardner was making images with a huge camera that used glass plates. That meant a certain amount of time between the two pictures; Heberton estimates it at 1 minute. Gardner took three images.
But Zeller said the huge glass plates produced images with a lot of detail.
"The clarity is incredible," he said.
Because Gardner was shooting from a distance, some historians believe he was simply trying to get crowd shots. Heberton said Gardner had photographed Lincoln 11 days before the speech and knew what the president looked like. He believes Gardner was there to try to get a picture of Lincoln.
Historians know that Lincoln was wearing white gloves, and a top hat with a darker mourning band around it.
Richter, who said he identified Lincoln in the photo in 2007, believes the president is on horseback, on the left of the crowd. Oakley locates his Lincoln to the right.
Heberton studied the faces of the crowd. The figure he identified as Lincoln -- riding a horse, wearing top hat with a mourning band and white gloves, is at the center of attention, more to the center of Gardner's pictures. Everyone is looking in his direction. That's not true for either Richter's or Oakley's choice.
Heberton said he found a small boy next to Lincoln. Knowing Lincoln's affection for his own sons, Heberton said, it's believable Lincoln would have hoisted the boy up to ride with him.
At the ceremony, famously, principal orator Edward Everett spoke for two hours. Lincoln spoke for two minutes, then sat down. The crowd, expecting more, didn't know how to react, and greeted the most famous political speech in American history with only scattered applause.
But Everett knew differently. In a letter to Lincoln written the next day, he said, "I should be glad if I could flatter myself that I came as near to the central idea of the occasion, in two hours, as you did in two minutes."
Contrary to Lincoln's own words, people have long remembered what was said there. Heberton said, they'll continue to study all the images and documents they can find.
On the eve of the anniversary, Heberton was in Gettysburg dining with Richter, talking photographs.
"It's the closest we have to being there," he said.
SOURCE:newstimes
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