The Wide Awakes are just 30 kids in Hartford when Lincoln arrives in Connecticut to rally voters. As with Rep. Cassius Clay, the boys provide security and earn themselves media coverage. Needing to correspond with the newspaper reporters writing to the boys for comment, 23 year-old aspiring newspaperman Henry Sperry volunteers to lead the club’s communications. Sperry sends “Letters to the Editor” to various Connecticut newspapers, inviting youngsters to become “Wide Awake.” Lincoln stays in Connecticut for a week-long speaking tour around the state, and in each town, he finds young copycat Wide Awake bodyguards marching beside his carriage. Lincoln’s public image becomes tied to the ever-present Wide Awake kids.
Abraham Lincoln’s Week in Connecticut.
The Wide Awakes are just 30 kids in Hartford when Lincoln arrives in Connecticut to rally voters. As with Rep. Cassius Clay, the boys provide security and earn themselves media coverage. Needing to correspond with the newspaper reporters writing to the boys for comment, 23 year-old aspiring newspaperman Henry Sperry volunteers to lead the club’s communications. Sperry sends “Letters to the Editor” to various Connecticut newspapers, inviting youngsters to become “Wide Awake.” Lincoln stays in Connecticut for a week-long speaking tour around the state, and in each town, he finds young copycat Wide Awake bodyguards marching beside his carriage. Lincoln’s public image becomes tied to the ever-present Wide Awake kids.