Lincoln Online Oratory Project

Experience the power of oratory in your classroom. This national program for grade 3 – 12 pairs a Ford’s Theatre teaching artist with your classroom to collaborate with educators and students to prepare to perform a speech. This year, educators will also participate in two informative online Ford’s Approach to Oratory sessions and a teacher orientation for comprehensive support. Using the words of great orators like President Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr., Mary McLeod Bethune and others, students will learn the historical context of a speech, the power of oratory and the fundamentals of performance and public speaking. As part of this distance learning program, students will:

• Learn how to analyze and understand complex text
• Learn our approach to effective public speaking and performance
• Receive three live online lessons with a professional teaching artist
• Celebrate with program participants from across the United States in a live virtual culminating event.

At the end of this project, your class is invited to create a video of the speech they learned to showcase their performance skills. All participating class videos will be shared on our YouTube channel and potentially featured on our website.

Thank you for your interest in Ford’s Theatre Lincoln Online Oratory Project. Unfortunately, the application period for this year’s program has now closed. We encourage you to sign up for our Teacher Enews and stay informed about future opportunities to participate. We will be sure to share information about next year’s application process when it becomes available. Explore more of our online opportunities by visiting our Virtual Field Trips page.

W. Ellington Felton

Renaissance man. A Washington, DC native and son of jazz pianist Hilton C. Felton Jr., W. Ellington was immersed in the arts early, cultivating his talent at The School Without Walls. He gained recognition on BET’s Teen Summit and later studied acting at Carnegie Mellon University. After college, he combined his passions for teaching and performance, working with Arena Stage’s Living Stage Theatre Company while pursuing music. In 2000, he co-founded The Crossrhodes with R&B artist Raheem DeVaughn, performing alongside legends like Chris Rock, Common, and Meshell Ndegeocello. A proud single father, W. Ellington continues to reside in DC, contributing to Ford’s Theatre’s Education Department and building his acting portfolio with roles in Love Dot Com, The Empty Walls, and ALLBLK’s Hush. His artistry reflects authenticity, dedication and passion.

ChelseaDee Harrison

ChelseaDee Harrison is a theater-maker, “artivist,” Teaching Artist and public arts engagement specialist. She has facilitated community-based arts workshops with institutions such as The Kennedy Center, The Ford’s Theatre Society, Carnegie Hall, The Maui Arts & Cultural Center, The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, The National Guild for Community Arts Education and for survivors of human trafficking and their families. She is a tenured Teaching Artist with the New Victory Theater, a former New Victory Theater LabWorks artist and a former Teaching Artists Guild National Advisory Committee Member. She is a 2024 TYA/USA Emerging Leader Fellow as well as a 2024 Arts and Humanities Fellow with the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities. Her inspiration is crafting multi-platform public engagement experiences that highlight history, challenge dominant narratives and ensure that art is a tool in the hands of the people. You can follow her work at linktr.ee/ChelseaDee.   

Tamekia Jackson

A Houston native, Tamekia is an educator and performer who loves the power of stories. As a teaching artist, Tamekia enjoys helping students take ownership of their creative process and encouraging personal growth. She received her BA from St. Edward’s University and her MA from NYU in Individualized Studies. Tamekia is a theater creator and performer for life. She has over twelve years of experience as a teaching artist.

Max Johnson

Max Johnson is an experienced DC local teaching artist. In addition to teaching with Fords, he also works with the Shakespeare Theatre Company and The Education Theater Company as a resident teaching artist and works with many students as a personal acting coach. He’s also a professional actor, having participated in a national tour with Olney Theatre’s National Players Tour 72 (portraying Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Karl Lindner in A Raisin in the Sun), an East Coast tour with Immediate Theatre Project, as well as acting in numerous local productions with theaters such as Rorschach Theatre, Faction of Fools, Imagination Stage, Edge of the Universe Theatre, 1st Stage and Theatre Prometheus, and various filmed projects in DC and LA. Finally, Max also works as a theatrical electrician and lighting designer around the city and enjoys bringing a well-rounded view of theater from having participated in so many different aspects of it to his work as a teaching artist. Max graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Wesleyan University with a BA with Honors in History and a BA in Theatre. More information about him can be found at his website: maxjohnsonactor.com.

Victoria Reinsel

Victoria Reinsel is a classically trained professional actor, director, and teaching artist. She holds an M.F.A and M. Litt in Shakespeare in Performance from Mary Baldwin College. Victoria has worked with Shakespeare Theatre Company, American Shakespeare Center, Orlando Shakespeare, Taffety Punk, Chesapeake Shakespeare, among others, and she co-founded Brave Spirits Theatre.