Four Score and Seven Years Ago …

Abraham Lincoln delivers the Gettysburg Address. Prints and Photographs Division.

The Gettysburg Address, which Abraham Lincoln delivered on Nov. 19, 1863, at the dedication of a national cemetery at the Gettysburg battlefield – the site of one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War – is recognized as a literary masterpiece and one of the most important speeches in American history.

In three brief paragraphs, the president proclaimed the principles upon which the nation was founded, honored the men who had given “the last full measure of devotion” in its defense, and challenged all citizens to a renewed commitment to freedom and democracy.

The Library of Congress will display the John Hay copy of the Gettysburg Address for six weeks, starting today through May 4, in its “Civil War in America” exhibition, located in the Thomas Jefferson Building. The Library also will extend the exhibition from its original closing date of June 1, 2013 to Jan. 4, 2014.

The John Hay copy of the address is one of five known manuscript drafts and is considered the second draft, made by Lincoln shortly after his return to Washington from Gettysburg. Lincoln gave the copy to Hay, one of his two secretaries. Hay’s descendants donated the copy to the Library of Congress in 1916.

The Library also holds the earliest known of the five drafts – known as the Nicolay Copy – of the Gettysburg Address. Lincoln’s other secretary was John Nicolay, whom this copy was entrusted to.

 

InRetrospect: February Blogging Edition

Here’s a sampling of some of the highlights in the Library’s blogosphere from February. Inside Adams: Science Technology & Business Turf Wars on the Football Field Jennifer Harbster debates the differences between natural and synthetic turf grass on the football field.  In the Muse: Performing Arts Blog In Memory of Patty Andrews and the Andrews …

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Last Word: Author Robert Caro on LBJ

(The following is an article from the January-February 2013 issue of the Library’s magazine, LCM, featuring an excerpt from an interview with historian and author Robert Caro about Lyndon Baines Johnson.) LCM: You’ve spent more than 30 years researching and writing about Lyndon Johnson, with a final volume yet to be published. What aspects of …

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Presidential Precedents

The Library of Congress holds the papers of 23 U.S. presidents, from George Washington to Calvin Coolidge. These collections, housed in the Manuscript Division—and the Library’s holdings in other formats such as rare books, photographs, films, sound recordings, sheet music and maps—inform us about the time and tenor of each of their administrations. Unique to …

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Oath of Office

(The following is a guest article written by my colleague Mark Hartsell, editor of the Library’s staff newsletter, The Gazette.) President Barack Obama next week will again take the oath of office on the Bible, drawn from the Library of Congress collections, that President Abraham Lincoln used at his first inauguration more than 150 years …

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Forever Free

Three-hundred-and-twenty-five words made up the first draft of the Emancipation Proclamation. So simple a start for what would become a pivotal document in our nation’s history – one that would also provide groundwork in passing the 13th amendment abolishing slavery. Currently on view in the Library’s “The Civil War in America” exhibition through Feb. 18, …

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Inquiring Minds: An Interview With Author William Martin

What if Abraham Lincoln recorded his innermost thoughts as he moved toward the realization that he must end slavery? What if he lost that diary, but a recently discovered letter suggests that the diary is still out there? Such is the premise of “The Lincoln Letter” (Tor/Forge, 2012) by William Martin, his latest mystery novel …

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Let’s Give Thanks

Thanksgiving is just a day away, and I’ve been noticing on Facebook, friends posting what they are thankful for this holiday season. Those statuses certainly have given me pause to count my own blessings. First and foremost, I am thankful for my family, who, no matter how far away I am from them, help me …

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