When we mounted the great exhibition, lincoln and the jews. She is chief executive officer of the Abraham Lincoln President Foundation which serves the Abraham Lincoln present shall library and museum, the most visited present thel library and museum in United States. Shes also the founder and executive director of the 1350 foundation, dedicated to honoring the american fly and engaging citizens in purposeful and active citizenship. She is editor and publisher of gettysburg replies. [applause] evening, ladies and gentlemen. It is an honor and privilege to be with you for tonight as part of the distinguished speaker series. I would like to thank luis, paul romero, the bryant park reading room, the new york public library, then youre just oracle the New York Historical society, and all of you. Although she passed away a few years ago, i would like to thank Irene Schwartz and her husband, bernard for generously underwriting this series. As you know, im here to speak about gettysburg reply. It is just one of more than 18,000 books that have been written about Abraham Lincoln to date. You might ask yourself, why so many . Because, although he no longer this earthly plane, his presence still resonates from the words he has written and the artifacts and documents he has left behind. He was a simple, yet, very deeply complex man, who looked at complex issues plainly and purely. He spoke the truth. Many believed he transition transcended all other president s that served before him and since. His story continues to reach borders, oceans, races, religions, politics, and party lines. Here is a man who grew up in a log cabin with a dirt floor, who seemed to have the proverbial deck stacked against him. If he were living in todays world, Society Might label him, and at risk youth, having only about one year of formal education, struggling financially, not getting along with his father, having both his mother and sister died when he was very young, having to adapt to a new set family, and his family never putting down any roots, moving from place to place on the unsettled western frontier. Yet, he ascended to the nations highest office. He has touched a multitude of souls for two centuries now. 18,000 booksn written about him, we might ask ourselves, what possibly could be written or revealed about him that has not already . A lot. Wer seems to be the lincoln onion seems to have more layers than most. I think you will find, and i hope you will find, that the gettysburg reply is unique and on like any other book published on Abraham Lincoln. To one ofays homage the worlds greatest speeches, the gettysburg address, and the man who wrote it. The address is a piece of writing that we have all read, recited, or heard. It bears repeating. The set the stage, we are fortunate to have a member of broadway royalty, mr. John column who will read the immortal words written by Abraham Lincoln. Please join me in welcoming him. [applause] thank you. Four score and seven years ago, our forefathers brought forth upon this continent a new nation conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives, that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper we should do this, but in a larger sense we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The cavemen living and dead who struggled here have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note or remember what we say here. It can never forget what they did here. It is for us, the living, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us. That from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause of which they here gave the last full measure of the motion of devotion. That we resolve these dead shall not have died in vain. That this nation under god shall have a new birth of freedom. That government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the air. From the earth. [applause] carla thank you. It is no exaggeration that the gettysburg address has been read or recited millions upon millions of times. Each time it is read or heard, even now more than a century and a half after it was written and delivered, it still inspires. It still moves us to the core. It still makes us introspective. It still transcends and takes us to new levels of hope and possibility. Many consider the gettysburg address to be Abraham Lincolns greatest speech. It would be difficult to argue otherwise. You may ask yourself, what could he have written that rivaled it . Other scholars and armchair historians may argue that his Cooper Union Speech or his second inaugural might be even greater. As you probably know his Cooper Union Speech was delivered two miles south of here at the cooper institute, now known as the cooper union. It was a speech which in part launched Abraham Lincolns career on the broader national stage. The speech delivered at february of 1860 when our nation was on the brink of civil war, brought us the words let us have faith that right makes might, and in that faith led us to the end there to do our duty as we understand it. Lincolns second inaugural address engraved at the Lincoln Memorial on the wall opposite the gettysburg address was delivered in march of 1865 as the civil war was nearing its conclusion. It set our nation on the court for a post world war we construction world war reconstruction. As he called upon our ancestors and all of us to this day to move forward with malice toward none, with charity for all. He set a tone which was not divisive and vengeful, but rather peaceful and visionary. There is no doubt that lincolns three most famous addresses are among his greatest, and in the end the debate about which is the greatest is more subjective than objective. What makes the gettysburg address more cited . It is a 272 word masterpiece, in which he set our nation on a course for a new birth of freedom, one we are still working to perfect today. Back in 2012, we at the Abraham Lincoln president ial library and museum and our foundation were looking for a way to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the gettysburg address. We wanted to do something special. Naturally, our first thought was put the document on display. That usually is enough. But we wanted to take it a step beyond. There are only five copies of the gettysburg address in lincolns own hand. Two of the copies are at the library of congress, those are the two drafts he wrote prior to giving the address. Another that he wrote postaddress is at cornell university. Another is in the white house in the lincoln room. The other one is the everett copy. That is that our museum and library in springfield, illinois. Our copy of the address was the one written immediately after his delivery of it. He was requested to write it by everett. He asked president lincoln to write it out so he could put it in a book to auction off for convalescing soldiers, which lincoln gladly obliged him. When a document is as famous and revered as the gettysburg address, it seems like putting it on display should be enough. We came up with the idea of a 272 word challenge. 272 words is the exact number in the gettysburg address. Lincoln did not set out to write 272 words, he did not think he was going to write a 272 word masterpiece. We thought it was a wonderful way that if we challenged people to write their own 272 words, that they might become more intimately tied to the address and really understand how difficult it is to be brilliant in 272 words, let alone be brilliant at any time. We challenged people, and as part of the challenge, essayists could write about lincoln, the gettysburg address or something causerelated that stirred their passions. We were hoping to receive enough that we could put some out in a small display with the gettysburg display. When news of the challenge started to spread, we found ourselves doing more than our share of explaining that the task was not to write as well as president lincoln, but rather to celebrate the man and his work. We first turned to harold holder to see if you would help us launch the project by writing his own 272 words. He wrote back an email and said wow, who could be as the succinct and brilliant as Abraham Lincoln . Our answer was, no one on the planet except perhaps those who live by the tweet. He was not daunted and in a few days, we had his 272 words, which i would like to share with you now. His essay was titled long remembered. Provide the essence of the gettysburg address in 272 words. Quite a challenge, for lincoln used but two sheets of paper to write it. The glittering essence of lincolns and perhaps americas greatest speech is its magnificent economy. Invited to deliver only a few appropriate remarks, lincoln summoned a rhetorical discipline that revolutionized political oratory. It was a new birth of simplicity and made a virtue of brevity. Of course i can memorize this length memorize this. The length does not begin to explain its enduring magic. Did it reinvent america as some claim . Probably not. We have come a long way. No one can say for certain whether if he returned to assess his legacy that he would conclude we traveled to fast or too slowly. On the opposite side of the analytical coin, was the gettysburg address meant to be more than a subtle declaration of his authors intention to serve a second term as president . Too simplistic and cynical. Then what . Gettysburg was in place of death. America itself needed rebirth or would die, as well. Therein lies its genius and relevance. Lincoln made one colossal error in the gettysburg address, suggesting the world would little note or not remember. He was too modest, maybe even disingenuous. He wrote his speech with such breathtaking ingenuity, he surely meant it to long endure. And that is harolds 272 words. When we received it, we felt we were on our way. And if we had any doubt, maybe it wouldnt take off, all of a sudden an express mail message came to our door. We opened up a piece of white stationery. It was a central figure of an eagle. There was the name, also in blue, under it in all caps. It was from jimmy carter. He had decided that he would write his 272 words. Immediately, working at museum with very valuable artifacts, we knew that we probably should be putting on the white curators gloves, but we were too excited and just picked it up and started reading. I would like to share his essay with you now. It is a magnificent essay. Bear with me while i get to it. His was simply called gettysburg address. When i began talks at camp david between israel and egypt, it became obvious the two leaders were almost completely incompatible. For three days i tried to induce them to negotiate in good faith, but they were always subverted into expressing ancient antagonism. For the last 10 days of discussion, i kept them completely apart with them living in separate cabins. As the first sunday approached, i tried to think of something that would divert our minds from the middle east argument and focus our attention on something completely removed from our concentrated work. Finally, why wife suggested we drive to the nearby civil war memorial at gettysburg. We arranged for the two delegations to go in buses, and i rode in the president ial limousine sitting between the two men. Once there, the israeli prime once there, everyone that the israeli Prime Minister was familiar with the battlefield and what had occurred there, having studied it at our military school. I showed him where the georgia artillery had been and recounted the horrible losses on both sides. Minister begin was disturbingly aloof. He was a proud man and i was afraid he would be embarrassed and angry. The group became silent when the guide announced we were at the spot of lincolns address. After a few moments, begin began to recite the words in a clear and strong voice and we listened with rapt attention. It was my most memorable event at a memorial to war. You can imagine, we were very moved when we received this. We were touched that he not only chose to participate in our project, but from what he wrote, we realized we were probably some of the first people to hear that story, certainly some of the first ever to read it. We knew immediately that the contents of the essay had historic significance. We realized that we were no longer trailing in historys wake as we usually do at the museum because we are getting other peoples artifacts that are 150 years old and rather than trailing in historys wake, with each document came in, we were creating historys wake. All the documents are here in the book for you to read at another time. Another interesting thing about president carters essay is that he typed it himself on his own typewriter. It is not just that he typed it himself, it was on a typewriter, and this was only a year ago. I am sure his staff must have had a computer, he may even have a computer, and he used a typewriter and it was clear it was on a typewriter. Which brings me to another aspect of the project. In addition to challenging people to write 272 words, we challenged them to walk further in lincolns shoes and hand write their essays. There were no computers back in 1863. Some of them did it. Others chose to type it out and sign their name to it. We learned that the actual act of having to hand write essays was a challenge in and of itself. For some of our essayists, they said it was more stressful than having to compose 272 words. When they got to word 253, they invariably made a mistake and would have to start over from scratch. One person said it was a humiliating experience. We got a call one day from general Colin Powells office. They said, do you mind if general powell prints his essay by hand, and we said, who are we to tell him what to do . They said that cursive was not going over very well. In a few ways, we received his essay and i would like to share that with you now. It is titled the march must continue. In november 2013, three months after commemorating the anniversary of dr. Martin Luther King Jrs i have a dream speech, we commemorated the gettysburg address. It felt to dr. King to remind america that the work was not finished and lincolns vision not yet realized. During that century, we saw the rise of segregation and the fiction that separate but equal could actually be equal. A second civil war was needed, a war of protest. It would be a war of morals and aspirations. A war to make america live up to the dreams of our forefathers. Our fathers brought forth on this continent a new vision that all men are created equal. Dr. King reaffirmed these hopes in his speech. The gettysburg address and i have a dream have gone down as the most inspirational speeches in American History. I am proud of my country and all we have done to realize these visions. Both men would be pleased but not satisfied. Both men were assassinated for their beliefs. We are their inheritors. You must do more than commemorate the date and be warmed by their words. We must reach out to those in need so that we may all be free at last. The march must continue. As you can see, we were very fortunate in receiving essays from some very powerful individuals. The essays themselves were powerful. We received essays from people from all walks of life, from High School Students to u. S. President s, to film makers like Steven Spielberg and ken burns, from Corporate Leaders like googles eric schmidt, poets like billy collins, sailors from the uss Abraham Lincoln and musical and visual artists. Pete seeger sent us the gettysburg address written in his own hand in a different format. He said, i am going to write it out for you in the way i have helped people learn to recite it. Annie leibowitz said, i am not a writer but i do photographs. She sent us some photo essays that we included in the book, particularly the one of Daniel Chester french, the sculptor for the Lincoln Memorial. She was at his studio and took a picture of the model, and that is what we have in the book. Many of our other essayists spoke of their personal experience and family heritage. The late julian bond wrote an essay for us that reminds us that only a few generations separate us from slavery. He wrote an eloquent essay, i will read some of it for you. Only my fathers generation stands between julian bond and human bondage. I am the grandson of a slave. He and his mother were property like a chair or horse. At 15, barely able to read and write, my grandfather hitched his way across kentucky to college. His was from a transcendent generation of black americans born in slavery, freed by Abraham Lincoln and determined to make their way and freedom. When he graduated, the college asked him to deliver the commencement address and he said, the pessimist looks out on the world of wickedness and sees it blighted by all that is good and helpful in the progress of the human race, bewails the present state of affairs and predicts woeful things for the future. In every cloud, he beholds a destructive storm, and every shadow a lurking blow. He forgets that the clouds also bring light, hope that lightning purifies the atmosphere, that shadow and darkness prepare for sunshine and growth, and adversity serves the race for greater and greater victories. Here is to greater and greater victories. So, these gettysburg replies ive shared and a few more i will share were revelatory on many levels. 150 years after lincolns death, he is still relevant. His actions and words still guide us to this day. Which is why people so often ask themselves in boardrooms, in classrooms, congresses, chat rooms, sometimes even in back hallways of churches, mosques, synagogues, what would lincoln do . One of the things he did was write thoughtful, eloquent speeches which to this day beckon us word upon word, sentence upon sentence, to contemplate our actions, our responsibilities, to better understand what has befallen us and what blessings have been bestowed upon us as a nation and world. As victoria giovanni pointed out, our nation forgets the amber waves of grain were not there because the natives im sorry, were there because the natives had managed, not ravaged the land. There was no dust bowl, no outofcontrol wildfires, no dead fish floating in polluted waters. The shame of destroying those people is ours to bear. And Professor Robert gray also pointed this out as he wrote about a cause which concerned him, the care and protection of our planet. In his essay, valediction to earth on the occasion of the great leaving, he pens a futuristic and fatalistic warning. Today is the day we hoped would never come. Yet the time is here. Now we must leave the earth forever. We dare not call it ours, for when it was ours, we did not love her as she loved us. Nor did we return her nurture in kind. And so as we board our small fleet of starships, we the last million or so of our kind must humbly pray to our unknown god that our tragic mistakes of war and greet and vanity, though their painful memory cannot go with this into the void, will not be fatally reenacted on our longboard each other or in our new home, should we find one in the vast cosmos. We must believe we have learned our final failure on earth was not one of freedom of responsibility. Freedom, a mighty good in itself, became license and license became a consuming fire and that fire became our holocaust. Again we must beg forgiveness of the earth. She can no longer sustain us, nor should she in view of our sins against her. But she may be able in good time to heal herself. Our atonement must consist in doing better if allowed the chance. We are the relics of a colossal failure and the deep universe does not care whether we continue to exist. We alone can care. Where do we deserve to live . We will know that place and ourselves when we reach it. That was obviously an essay by someone picking something that they are passionate about. Another person who wrote something that they are passionate about, while robert was contemplating an environmental holocaust, this other person, sam harris, was contemplating moving on from another. That was the mass genocide perpetrated by adolf hitler and the nazis during world war ii. Sam was taken by the nazis in 1939 at the age of four to live in concentration camps in poland. In 1945 at the age of nine, his camp was liberated by the russian army and sam and his sister came to america as orphans, having lost their entire family in the holocaust. He was adopted by a family in the chicago area, changed his name and never looked back. As a sophomore in high school, he was assigned to write an essay, the very same essay that he contributed to the book. Amazingly, his essay was 273 words. One of those words he put in parentheses, and you can bet your Bottom Dollar that we went to him and said, take that one out, and he did. It was as though it was a lincolnordained miracle that he ended up with 272 words. Im going to read sams essay, remember he wrote this as a 16yearold boy. He also told me that none of his classmates knew his history, they just knew him as a classmate and did not know what he had gone through. He titled it the best place on earth. America is indeed the best place on earth. Most people born in america may not think of it the same way i do because all of the freedom comes to them as naturally as breathing. I come up being born in europe and living through the war, have a different respect for democracy as being practiced in the u. S. Not until about 3. 5 years ago did i know what democracy was. Then the day came. I moved to this free country. This was a complete change for me in the way people lived and the way people spoke. In all the countries i have been, including poland, my birthplace, austria, germany, that the people live so freely and in modern countries. Still on the harbor ship, the ernie pyle, i stared at the million lights twinkling in the night, between the large buildings and our ship on the water, there lay a Little Island on which rested the statue of liberty. Even not knowing yet what the huge figure was, i stared at it with great interest. Then i questioned. When i realized what it symbolizes, that much more my eyes brightened with freedom and my heartbeat like the drums of peace. Now i have lived in this heaven for 3. 5 years, and i still think of these first visions of real human life which all people all over the world should one day experience. My heart i should hope would never let me forget the sight of liberty my eyes saw my first night in america. God bless america. That one always gets me. Abraham lincoln, who was a friend to the jews and other oppressed people, refugees at the time and immigrants, was obviously most associated with ending the civil and abolishing slavery. However, one of the many things which made him great was his big picture thinking. He was the ultimate multitasker. Even though they did not have the term back then, he was. And he, in the midst of the civil war raging on and the slavery question being debated, he still had the big vision for our nation. He passed the homestead act, which would provide land to pioneering settlers in the western frontier, he passed the Pacific Railroad act, which actually led to the nailing of the golden spike connecting the east and west coast. He created our system of landgrant universities, one in every state. He established the department of agriculture and created our National Banking system. The list of his accomplishments go on and on. But one of our essayists, Neil Degrasse tyson, wrote about one of his lesserknown accomplishments, his establishment of the National Academy of sciences. Dr. Tysons essay was so wellreceived after it came out that bill gates actually made a video of it to help encourage americas youth to engage in Scientific Study and exploration. If you are interested, it is available on youtube. You can take a look at it in your free time. I would like to read Neil Degrasse tysons essay for you now. It is called the lincoln seedbed. Civil war divided the United States of america, yet in its wake we would kneel as one nation indivisible. President lincoln chartered the National Academy of sciences, comprised of 50 distinguished researchers whose task was then, as now, to advise congress and the executive branch of all of the ways the frontier of science and contribute to the health, wealth and security of his residence. As a young nation, we had fought the Industrial Revolution the transformed europe, but americans had yet to embrace the meaning of science to society. Now with more than 2000 members, in the National Academy encompasses dozens of fields undreamt of at the time of lincolns charter. Quantum physics, discovered in the 1920s, now drives nearly one third of the worlds wealth, forming the basis of our computer revolution. Climatology and as warm heart planet, it may be the only way to save us from ourselves. During the centennial president , carter addressed this saying it constitutes the bed of our future. In this the 21st century, in science and Technology Form the primary engine of our economic growth. While most remember honest aid for war and peace, the time has come to recognize him for on a coursenation of the scientifically enlightened government, without which we may all perish from this earth. A year prior to his charter of the National Academy of sciences, our 16th president also established the medal of honor. We were fortunate to have a medal of honor recipient. Alan lynch contributed an essay to the book. He remarked that the greatest honor of my life was being rewarded the metal. 63 metals were earned in the battle of gettysburg. Given the honor to take my place alongside such man is humbling. I believe i must do my best because of what it represents. Lincoln calls on all americans to complete the unfinished work not only of maintaining the our foundingo of principles of liberty and equality. These are National Principles that are worth defending with our lives. We had another essay from another veteran who had sacrificed or went to war with the idea that she might be sacrificing her life. She literally sacrificed her limbs. Her story is very inspirational. U. S. Were presented of tammy representatives. Tammy duckworth. Her essay is entitled our greatest treasure. Barely a month in, he said let us strive us. Bind up the nations wounds, to care for him and his widow. Americas greatest resource is not our wealth, it is not military might or mineral deposits, our greatest treasure is our men and women willing to die to defend the nation. War is not fought with nameless troops, but with people. They are our loved ones and neighbors and friends. Since lexington and concorde our , military men and women answered the call when the military asked is willing to lay when asked to is willing to lay down their life for liberty and freedom. They do this not just for love, but for strangers across the land that they will never meet. These patriots serve and so do their loved ones. Our military families send them to bleed for our nation. It is easy to celebrate their memory a few holidays each year. That is not enough. How a nation treats its veterans after they serve is a true measure of all of us whether it is health care, education or employment. We have a covenant to keep with our veterans. In the case of veteran homelessness, we are all dishonored when a veteran has to lay their heads on a street they defended. It begins with lincoln but it rests with all of us to care for him. As you no doubt realize, i shared only a handful of the more than 1000 essays we have received through this project. We have about 92 more in the book that were published. They all vary in tone, subject, style. But they are all inspired by the great emancipator Abraham Lincoln. Im going to share one last essay and it was written by the lincoln producer, kathleen kennedy. Her as he is entitled clarity of purpose. I will say a few remarks after this. She writes, we spend much if not all of our lives in search of our reason for being. The harder we look, the more it the hidden meaning of our existence seems to exude us. For lincoln, his many great achievements recognized and Abraham Lincoln had an enviable how it played into American History and and wasted no time accomplishing all he could. Obstacles were put in his path and his understanding of how he fits into his time and place along with his ambition, inner strength and strong moral compass always gave him the will to overcome this. We often fail to recognize that often comes at a serious cost. The responsibility to fulfill is a burden that demands tremendous sacrifice. It cannot have been higher. It is difficult to imagine that someone could rise to that challenge. It is even more difficult to imagine the kind of person that would rise so selflessly and with unconditional dedication. It is for that very reason that often in the same breath we referred to his story as a triumph and a tragedy. Because this man was who he was meant to be, he has left an indelible mark on our history, our country and our lives. For that, Abraham Lincoln will always be remembered. Truly remembered and just as lincoln looked introspectively and ponder these questions, i now ask each of you what is your destiny . What is your purpose . What is it that is demanding tremendous sacrifice from you . What is your gettysburg address and what are your 272 words . Abraham lincoln was and still is Abraham Lincoln still beckons the unfinished work, so that we and future enjoytions of america may the fruit of a more perfect union. Abraham lincoln was and still is a Great American hero, a euro hero who saw the United States as the last and best hope of earth. He was committed to living up to the principles of our founding father. Our constitution and our bill of rights. He was committed to our nation have a new birth of freedom, so that the government of the by the people, and for the people would not perish from the earth. He understood that the mighty scourge of war that had come upon our nation was just a physical manifestation to live up to its own lofty principles. Washington was the father of our country but lincoln was the savior. His story continues to be revealed and revered. As leo tolstoy once wrote, the greatness of napoleon, caesar or washington is only mimicked by only moonlight by the sun of lincoln. He was bigger than his country and bigger than all the president s together. He lived and died a hero and he will live as long as the world lives. In the end, i will to William Shakespeare who i wouldve loved to have 272 words from. He was one of lincolns favorite literary figures. Take him and cut him out in little stars. Shakespeare once said, take him and cut him out in little stars. He shall make the face of heaven so find that all the world will be in love with night and pay no worship to the sun. Without i thank you for sharing this with me. I encourage each of you to right your own 272 words. It would become a part of the library and museum. Ofre are all 1200 or 1300 them there for you. I invite you to come visit our library in springfield and i thank you again for being here this evening. [applause] thank you, that was a wonderful presentation and a great project. It is inspiring. Get more toll understand the two words from somebody in the audience. We do have time for some questions. In the a microphone aisle there. If you would step up. I speak for the audience. Thank you for not having john colin recite the efforts. We would be here until tomorrow. You mentioned the Prime Minister reciting the address. International visitors come to the museum. Everybody would know that lincoln won the civil war. His words were much more specific in that time and place in our history. For example, jefferson signed the declaration of independence which is much more universal. Apply to people almost anytime and anyplace. You find do you find that familiarat come are with lincolns words and meaning . We actually receive visitors from a hundred countries annually. They come from five continents and they all know him. They may not be as familiar but they know the gettysburg address and we actually have some International Essays in the book. A former president of poland wrote 272 words. People do know that when they come to our museum their response is that they didnt know his whole story. When they learn it, they become even more taken with him. We actually have one women from south africa who said, im just telling you that i am going to scream when we bring out the hat. Sure enough she did. People are very moved by him. You said lincoln left two copies of his speech in washington. I thought he broke the speech on the train going to gettysburg. He probably was writing some of it on the train. Sue state in gettysburg the night before and was also perfecting it that night. He wrote it and afterwards a member of the press asked him for a copy of it. They gave it to him and that that person through that copy out. That is lost to history and so the very first when he was asked to write was the everest. Thank you for your question. How many copies were there altogether . There are five that exist today that is written in his own hands. We always wait for the day. Someone says nobody knew, but guess what. I will quickly tell you that one day i was invited to someones home. A friend had passed away and he had some lincoln related documents. They asked if i could come down and i said sure, absolutely. We got there and they had it in a hefty bag. All i kept thinking was, thank god no one had thrown it out. When mom cleans out the baseball cards. It turns out it had two lincoln letters. Knew ofhich historians its previous existence but thought it had been destroyed and didnt know it was still in existence. So you really never know. I have hope there is a six copy. You said there is one in the lincoln bedroom in the white house. One at cornell university, two at the library of congress, and then we have one. Our Springfield Museum is only one of two places that has it. That has to gettysburg address, the emancipation proclamation, and the 13th amendment. The other is the library of congress. I am impressed with his political courage in reference to the aftermath of the uprising. Hundreds of indians were sentenced to death and he reviewed every single one of the cases and reduced it to about 3839. He did this at incredible risk. In generated a lot of controversy. The midterm elections of 1862 were coming up. Do you know if the Republican Party as a result of that lost elections in the house and senate . You are educating us tonight. I do not have an answer to that question. I am not a historian. My phd is not in history but working where i have worked, i have learned a lot. If you give me your name and address, i can send you the answer from our lincoln curator. Throughout his career, he was always for the underdog and as luis had mentioned grant had expelled the jews from the mississippi valley. One lincoln learned of it he immediately rescinded it and set under no circumstances. He was always doing things. He was famous for pardoning many people. She would carefully and thoughtfully read the pardons. Which is why he has such great empathy and compassion. Been the 200th , but they only one that is important to this family for that individual. He took time to determine whether or not he would do these or any actions. I encourage you to give me your email. You for your comments paid im going to ask two separate questions. What is the reaction to the gettysburg address and was there a particular moment in American History where they achieved this there anytus . And was accurate description of what his voice sounded like . I will take the second question first. There have been accurate. Escriptions when Steven Spielberg was putting together the movie lincoln they came to our museum and we shared with them not only descriptions of his voice, but of how he walked, how he sat, his cadence with his voice. Curators tell me that the portrayal of lincoln in the movie was very good from all the things written about him. As far as the gettysburg address, it is not like today where the minute you have made it is beamed all over the world. It was well received. Case in point, there was everett who was saying that you said in 2. 5 words, then i could happen in 2. 5 hours. He realized he had hit it out of the ballpark. Lincoln was not one he had a lot of selfdeprecating humor. Once a woman accused him of being twofaced. He replied, if i had two faces,would i be wearing this one . [laughter] he kind of hit it out of the park and the gettysburg was one of them. Thank you. First question is where do you send the submissions because im going to have all of my students submit this as an assignment. This is wonderful. I will give you the address but you can send them through the library foundation. You can get that at my question is, did you reach out to all the living president s . General question how did you , determine whom to query on this . We said, anyone who wants to write one. We put it in our magazine and advertise it. There were some people who we knew we should absolutely try to hear from. We were very fortunate because the president does not always say we will go to this and that. The passing of others and four of them submitted essays. We sent out letters to all the governors. We went to the captain of the uss Abraham Lincoln, we said anyone who wants to write an essay we wrote to a lot of lincoln scholars. We felt it was appropriate and important to get an idea of what they thought of it. Who have done films about lincoln, opinion leaders. It also in our book we have students from little rock central high school, that talks about little rock nine. We have School Teachers and it is a very wide range. Am i want to thank everyone. Wait, we have one more. [inaudible] that is a good question. I wish i can tell you. The question was, did i know what the last word was that he took out of his essay . I dont. Im sorry. Know, he wentou on to establish the Illinois Holocaust Museum and education center. He went on to do great things and he is a wonderful man who has joined me on a lot of these presentations. He lives in illinois and could not make the trip. Anyways, thank you so much. [applause] thank you carla. We have some books for sale and carla is going to stay here and sign for a while. Thank you for coming and we will see you next week. Good night everyone. [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2016] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] American History tv airs on cspan3 every weekend, telling the american story three events, interviews, and visiting historic locations. Features include lectures from history, visit the College Classrooms across the country to hear lectures by top history professors, american artifacts take a look at treasures at historic sites, museums, and archives. Real america, revealing the 20th century through archival newsreels. And the presidency focuses on denver is a city that was originally a silver and gold room and bust city, and then it became a bust city. Years, it is a city on the rise. It has the tech her, and other industries as well. An announcer this weekend, the
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