Waterston plays Lincoln at historic site

NEW YORK, April 13 (UPI) -- Actor Sam Waterston, who has made a career of playing Abraham Lincoln, will deliver Lincoln's historic Cooper Union speech May 5 in the Union's Great Hall.

An announcement of the event by the venerable educational institution Monday said Waterston will read the speech to celebrate the publication of a book, "Lincoln at Cooper Union: The Speech That Made Abraham Lincoln President" by Simon & Schuster.

The author of the book is Harold Holzer, vice president of the Metropolitan Museum and a leading authority on the 16th president of the United States.

Waterston, currently star of the NBC-TV drama "Law and Order," is a Lincoln look-alike and a natural to read the speech, according to organizers of the free event.

Lincoln came to New York as a congressman from Illinois to make the speech arguing against the spread of slavery in 1860, and it transformed him into formidable contender for the presidency.