Excerpt from the Gettysburg Address written by Abraham Lincoln.
Above: “Harvest of Death,” the Battle of Gettysburg, 1863, from Gardner’s Photographic Sketch Book of the War

The Chicago History Museum’s new exhibition Lincoln Treasures tells the story of Abraham Lincoln’s rise to the presidency, his struggle to keep the country united, and how people remembered him after he died. Events at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania play a major role in this story.

In July 1863, more than two years into the Civil War, the Confederate army marched into Pennsylvania, hoping a victory there would force the Union to surrender. The opposing armies met outside Gettysburg and fought for three days. The Union won, halting the Confederates’ advance, while the two armies suffered a massive total of about 51,000 casualties. Later that year, President Lincoln spoke at Gettysburg to dedicate the military cemetery there.

His modest 272-word speech lasted roughly three minutes, as the audience interrupted him about five times with applause. Lincoln’s words, of course, became known as the Gettysburg Address. From April 1 to May 3, Lincoln Treasures will also feature a copy of the speech on loan from the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, Illinois. This is one of only five known copies of the speech in Lincoln’s handwriting. The document is accompanied by an audio piece, created for the exhibition, of both kids and adults reading the Gettysburg Address.

Listen to the Gettysburg Address, read aloud by kids and adults:

> Learn more about the Lincoln Treasures exhibition
> Learn more about the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial celebration
> Shop Abraham Lincoln gifts

Tags: Abraham Lincoln, Audio, Civil War, Gettysburg Address, Lincoln Treasures, Peter Alter

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 17th, 2009 at 9:46 am and is filed under Exhibitions, History, Multimedia. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.