"The Historian Is Known as a Killjoy"

"Those actors include African-Americans, who are, as a New York Times Op-Ed argued, passive when not absent in 'Lincoln': There’s a brief opening scene in which black soldiers reverently recite the Gettysburg Address to the president and there’s Mary Todd Lincoln’s confidante Elizabeth Keckley, who is portrayed as a quietly strong seamstress, though in reality, she raised money for newly freed slaves. Said Foner: 'She was political, she was out there in the streets doing something. If you go to the other extreme, with "Django Unchained": That’s a total fantasy, but at least it’s got black people as historical actors.'"

Daniel D'Addario in Salon discusses historians reactions to Steven Spielberg's Lincoln.