With a voice as smooth as a newborn’s bottom, the storyteller captivated his audience with little-known tales about Abraham Lincoln.
His energy began to build as Lincoln’s train picks up speed, and when it entered the station and the air breaks flared, “Pssssshhhh,” Jim Woodard brought down the energy, but kept the interest level high.
“Worldwide Folktales & Legends” was just one of the 55 lectures, performances, discussions and demonstrations available to students as a part of Multicultural Day on April 15 at Moorpark College.
“This is one of my favorite venues to come to,” said Woodard. “The audience was great. They’re in a place that they want to be, they were happy and they seemed to appreciate the stories.”
Woodard, the resident storyteller at the Ronald Reagan Library since 1995, presented historical stories surrounding Lincoln, including a tale from the oval office on Jan. 1, 1863, the day the Emancipation Proclamation was signed. This year is the 200th anniversary of Lincoln’s birthday, and Woodard made comparisons to our current president and the 14th.
“The history of it is important,” said Woodard. “Before radio and writing, the only way they passed on historical information was through stories.”
Woodard said that the connections between Lincoln and President Barack Obama were interesting, making special note that Lincoln freed a whole race in the U.S. and Obama brings it to fulfillment. Students were especially interested in those connections.
“He made conclusions between Lincoln and Obama, and I found that interesting,” said architecture major Theodore Borter, 20.
Psychology major Danielle Bourgholtzer, 20, was captivated with Woodard’s storytelling ability.
“It was great,” said Bourgholtzer. “It just kept my attention. It was sweet and it was cool.”
Multicultural day is an annual campus-wide event, and this year’s theme coupled with the Year of Democracy, and Woodard’s stories about Lincoln fit in well with cultural dimensions of democracy.
According to Woodard, stoytelling is being revived in the U.S., and he noticed that people of all ages, including college students, are showing interest.
“Its interesting, why the revival now?” said Woodard. “With all our electrical goodies there’s nothing we can’t do, and I think that’s why it’s coming back. You are your own director in your mind. Listening to stories is a great way to do that.”
