Barack Obama at Ford's Theatre-revival

by Mark Silva and updated

Anyone who has seen In the Heat of the Night, and a few other unforgettable films of the 20th Century American era of denial, cannot help but pause at the sight of actor Sidney Poitier greeting President Barack Obama in the Washington playhouse where Abraham Lincoln was shot a century before Civil Rights were achieved.

Obama, addressing the audience in this "hallowed space,'' spoke of a "sense of unity that is so much a part of Lincoln's legacy. For despite all that divided us - North and South, black and white - he had an unyielding belief that we were, at heart, one nation, and one people ''

Suffice it to say that the security surrounding the theater, on this eve of its reopening after a $25-million renovation and the 200th anniversary of the birthday of Lincoln, was somewhat more intense than it was on a fateful night long ago.

Guess who came to Poitier's party?

The first African-American president of the United States that Lincoln fought so hard to preserve. And actor James Earl Jones, and more. As well as an assortment of Washington political celebrities, such as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California, (pictured in the AP photo by Evan Vucci) and Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

The Marine Band welcomed Obama with "Hail to the Chief,'' and the formally attired audience saw a video presentation of the Gettysburg Address read by former Presidents Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.

And quick, before you Google it, what year did In the Heat of the Night Come out? (Hint:, the same year as Guess Who's Coming to Dinner and To Sir with Love. Now that was a year.)

(Obama addresses audience in this "hallowed space.'' Evan Vucci / AP)

"Michelle and I are so pleased to be here to renew and rededicate this hallowed space,'' Obama told the audience. "We know that Ford's Theatre will remain a place where Lincoln's legacy thrives, where his love of the humanities and belief in the power of education have a home, and where his generosity of spirit are reflected in all the work that takes place.

"It has been a fitting tribute to Abraham Lincoln that we've seen and heard from some of our most celebrated icons of stage and screen. Because Lincoln himself was a great admirer of the arts. It is said he could even quote portions of Hamlet and Macbeth by heart. And so, I somehow think this event captured an essential part of the man whose life we celebrate tonight.

"As commemorations take place across this country on the bicentennial of our 16th President's birth, there will be reflections on all he was and all he did for this nation that he saved. But while there are any number of moments that reveal the exceptional nature of this singular figure, there is one in particular I'd like to share with you.

"Not far from here stands our nation's Capitol, a landmark familiar to us all but one that looked very different in Lincoln's time. For it remained unfinished until the end of the war. The laborers who built the dome came to work wondering whether each day would be their last; whether the metal they were using for its frame would be requisitioned for the war and melted down into bullets. But each day went by without any orders to halt construction - so they kept on working and kept on building.

"When President Lincoln was finally told of all the metal being used there, his response was short and clear: that is as it should be. The American people needed to be reminded, he believed, that even in a time of war, the work would go on; that even when the nation itself was in doubt, its future was being secured; and that on that distant day, when the guns fell silent, a national Capitol would stand, with a statue of freedom at its peak, as a symbol of unity in a land still mending its divisions.

"It is this sense of unity that is so much a part of Lincoln's legacy. For despite all that divided us - north and south, black and white - he had an unyielding belief that we were, at heart, one nation, and one people. And because of Abraham Lincoln, and all who've carried on his work in the generations since, that is what we remain today. Thank you, and good night.''