Editorial Cartoon: Gameday tickets
Benjamin Franklin traveled through time Wednesday to speak to students, faculty and community members about his life experiences and philosophies.
Fred Krebs, a history professor at Johnson County Community College, portrayed Benjamin Franklin.
Krebs is a member of the Chatauqua Circuit, which is an organization of professors who reenact historical figures.
“(When portraying Benjamin Franklin) I really do like to blend humor, inspiration and solid historical work in a way that people find engaging,” Krebs said.
Krebs mentioned several aspects of Benjamin Franklin’s life, like his opinion on tyranny, liberty and politics.
“My favorite part was when he was talking about how freedom and liberty are two different things and how he was really against tyranny and questioned whether we are still a republic now,” said Andi Morgan, a sophomore history major.
Krebs has been performing as Benjamin Franklin since 1985.
“I’m getting more and more comfortable with the kind of message I want to portray with Franklin but you can’t be too comfortable and you have to leave room to be inspired yourself,” Krebs said.
Mandy Smith, a senior English major, said Krebs’s performance seemed very authentic.
“He knew a ton of information about Benjamin Franklin and I almost got lost and forgot that this was a re-enactor,” Smith said.
Krebs spoke about the value of the three words consistency, continuity, and credibility that are important to his performances.
“You start off with having something that is consistent in the way you present it and one thing builds on another to create a very flowering kind of completion,” Krebs said. “When you are done with it, people believe it because your heart and their heart tie together.”
All of the seats were filled at the event in the reference section of Booth Library and there were also people standing in the back.
“I felt that (Krebs) was very knowledgeable and I like when he took questions from the audience and treated each question as important while providing a very in-depth answer,” said Samantha Sauer, a senior history major.
“An Evening with Benjamin Franklin” as interpreted by Krebs was the opening event for the Benjamin Franklin exhibit in Booth Library that will take place for the next six weeks.
“I thought his performance was really great because he knew all of the information and really kept the audience captivated which was a great start for the exhibit,” Morgan said.
Rachel Rodgers can be contacted at 581-7942 or rjrodgers@eiu.edu
