Published: February 27, 2008 12:11 pm      

Ben Franklin makes appearance

Ada — Ralph Archbold, also know as “America’s Premier Benjamin Franklin Portrayer,” performed in front of a full house at East Central University Tuesday night. Archbold’s performance, dubbed “An Evening with Benjamin Franklin,” was brought to Ada through the Center for the Advancement of American History (CAAH) and the Teaching American History Grant Program. Archbold’s performance was in the Wagner Ballroom on campus, and was enjoyed by a diverse audience.

After a brief introduction by project director Dr. Mitchelle Barton, Archbold took the stage, dressed in full colonial American costume and speaking with a New English accent. Archbold was in character at all times, addressing the audience as if he actually was Ben Franklin. He began by telling two humorous anecdotes about travel. The first dealt with the unpleasantness of sharing a coach with a fellow passenger who had “no acquaintance with soap.” The second dealt with winter travel, and how Franklin finagled a previously occupied seat in a crowded and popular inn after telling the innkeeper and others that his horse loved to suck oysters right from the shell and making himself at home when they all went to investigate the claim.

Archbold/Franklin also spoke about his relationship with George Washington, and Washington’s supposed experimentation with a vast assortment of artificial teeth, including hippopotamus. He retold the asking of Washington’s advice on how to go about with the Constitutional Convention of 1787. Washington responded by saying that he had never failed. When Archbold/Franklin pressed him on that point, Washington conceded that he had indeed made many mistakes and had often fallen. “But I have always picked myself up,” he clarified. “It is only failure if you quit. And I will never quit.”

Archbold/Franklin later said that if Washington was around to see the modern world, he would be quite upset. “He’s only on the one dollar bill,” he explained. “I’m on the one hundred.”

After a couple more brief stories, Archbold/Franklin spoke about his past, about wanting to be a sailor, instead briefly becoming a student, a candle-maker, and an apprentice printer under his older brother James. He soon adopted the pen name of Silence Dogood and used it to write witty, humorous letters into his brother’s paper, the New England Courant. This eventually led to a falling out between the brothers, and Archbold/Franklin spoke of his exodus to New York and later Philadelphia, where he started his own newspaper, as well as “Poor Richard’s Almanac.”

He went on to talk about his experiments with electricity, his failed book exchange that led to the creation of the public library, and taking part in signing the Declaration of Independence. He closed by saying that the spirit and strength of the Founding Fathers is no different than that found in the audience, and all that’s needed is the courage to make a change in the world.

After finishing, Archbold, who was still in character as Franklin, took as many questions from the eager audience as time allowed.