Michael Maione, historian for Ford's Theatre, is pretty good on the subject of Abraham Lincoln. For eight years, he has answered questions about the 16th president from visitors to the theater and museum.
On those rare occasions that he is stumped, Maione said, he goes to his office library next door to the theater and finds the information. Sometimes, he's back with the answer while the visitor is still at the theater.
Other times, he calls the questioner later.
It never took terribly long, until earlier this month, when a teacher attending a seminar on Lincoln asked him who gave Lincoln the title "the Great Emancipator."
Maione didn't know.
Maione checked through the 800 books on Lincoln in his reference library but didn't find the answer. He went though his files. He called a half-dozen colleagues who specialize in Lincoln studies and, he said, they didn't know, either.
"I have never been totally stumped before," he said. "It's such a simple question, such a basic question. You'd think I'd know the answer, but I don't."
That's why he contacted me, saying that the situation was making him crazy and that he wondered whether readers of this column might be able to help him.
I also called some Lincoln scholars, asking them the origin of the moniker.
Here's what they said:
David Herbert Donald: "I have checked my files and, no, I don't know who first called him the Great Liberator."
James Horton: "I honestly don't know."
Frank Williams: "That is a great question. In 40 years, no one has ever asked me that, and I don't know the answer.
Harold Holzer: "If there is one person who should get credit for the phrase, I don't know who that would be."
Garbor Boritt: "I'm not sure."
There is also a question as to when Lincoln was first called the Great Emancipator.
Horton said he guesses that the term became common after Lincoln was assassinated at Ford's Theatre in 1865 rather than in 1863, after he issued the Emancipation Proclamation.
"There were very few people outside of all African Americans and a few abolitionists . . . who supported Lincoln and the proclamation," he said. "Other people were very tentative. That proclamation made him very few friends."
Holzer agreed with Horton, saying he has seen references to the title only after 1865.
Boritt, however, said he was sure it must have begun in 1863.
"I believe the idea behind the expression began with black people and the proclamation and goes on from there," he said. "I am quite convinced that was the beginning of turning Lincoln into a saint. It began with the slaves."
Maione has his theory as to who was responsible for the title, regardless of whether it originated in 1863 or 1865.
"It had to be a reporter," he said. "You know how those reporters do those things."
Got the answer? Call me at 202-334-7334 or e-mail wheelerl@washpost.com.
Civil War Events Calendar
Alexandria: Continuing exhibit on the U.S. Sanitary Commission, an unprecedented army relief effort initiated and supported by Northerners to improve the health and welfare of Union soldiers and their families. At Fort Ward Park through March 31, 2002. Free. For more information, call 703-838-4848.
Washington: 10 a.m.-4 p.m. June 2. Georgetown recreates its Civil War period as a community divided in its loyalties. Sponsored by the National Park Service, the free event will include a medical field hospital, discussion by members of the Massachusetts 54th Regiment on African American participation in the war and walking tours of Civil War Georgetown. Free. For more information, call 202-653-5190.