In celebration of the 75th anniversary of the foundation and the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, the Lincoln-Sargent Farm Foundation sponsored its annual dinner as a fundraiser in which around 100 people attended.

Lori Henderson, the president of the Lincoln-Sargent Farm Foundation, said the fundraiser gave the members of the foundation time to connect with volunteers and community members, as well as the ability to update community members on the progress of the foundation and the state of the historical site.

“This particular fundraiser we think is important because it’s a chance for us to talk to our donors and our volunteers,” Henderson said. “We have many events all year long, but most of those are so active that it’s hard to sit down and chat with people.”

Henderson said the fundraiser is especially important as the state funding for historical sites has started diminishing.

“Private dollars are going to be more and more important,” Henderson said. ”It’s a difficult balance to make as the funding from the state goes down, we have to look at private sources.”

The night included a dinner and entertainment, with Kathryn Harris, the director of library service at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, where she recited a monologue and answered questions as the famous abolitionist Harriet Tubman.

Harris said she has been playing the role of Tubman for more than a decade after a colleague requested she perform the role as part of an outreach program.

Harris said she was invited to perform at the annual dinner by the Lincoln Log Cabin Sate Historic Site’s site manager.

“I do a lot of performances for elementary and high schools, but I also perform for college classes,” Harris said. “When people know about her role and her role as a conductor, but they don’t know what she did during the war and what she did at the close of the war.”

Harris said the biggest compliment she has ever received was when a sixth grader said she thought Harris was actually Harriet Tubman.

Harris said that it was what made her realize she had succeeded at being a historical impersonator.

Harris said through reading books about Tubman, she was also able to get a sense of her personality.

“I am a librarian and I read everything I could get my hands on,” Harris said. “Giving what she did, she had to be very bold, committed, dedicated, strong willed, all those things. I hope that comes across in my presentation.”

Henderson said her favorite part about the event was seeing Harris’ impersonation of Tubman.

“I really enjoying getting to see her and the feedback I got from the crowd,” Henderson said. “That was certainly a highlight.”

Linda Bee, of Springfield, said she came to the event to support the foundation.

“I think they had a lovely group of volunteers,” Bee said.

Barbara Krehbiel, of Charleston, also said she attended the event to support the foundation. Krehbiel said she thought the event was extremely well planned and very good.

Kathryn Richter can be reached at 581-2812 or kjrichtter@eiu.edu.