Copy of Gettysburg Address on display at Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library

Posted on November 14, 2023

*The copy is only on display this weekend. (Photo courtesy: Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library.*

By Dave Dahl

SPRINGFIELD – Forescore and seven years ago … well, you know the rest.

The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum’s copy of the Gettysburg Address is on display Nov. 17-28. On Nov. 19, the 160th anniversary of the dedication of the military cemetery at Gettysburg, Pa., admission to the ALPLM is free.

A copy of the address? ALPLM historian Christian McWhirter says in those days, it was not unusual to write several copies of such a document.

“Lincoln wrote five copies of it during his lifetime,” said McWhirter. “We don’t know if he read any of them that day . They’re all a little bit different. He changed it every time. The biggest difference is near the end he says “under God,” and in the first two copies he doesn’t say that, but he says it in the last three.”

Dave Dahl can be reached at [email protected].

Blogs

Labor Day – Expanding voting rights for all

By Mike Matejka Because of COVID, there is no Labor Day Parade this year. It’s always a great event for our everyday workers to march proudly down the street and enjoys the festive crowd. If there had been a parade, this year’s Labor Day theme was to be “150 years of struggle: your right to vote.” …

Is federal mobilization the answer?

By Mike Matejka As President Donald Trump threatens to send federal marshals into Chicago, over the objections of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, recall another Illinois Governor who protested the incursion of armed federal personnel into the city. Those federal troops, rather than calming, escalated the situation, leading to deaths and violence. Illinois poet Vachel Lindsay…

In these troubled times, to my fellow white Americans

By Mike Matejka Our nation is at a unique watershed in human relations. African-Americans have been killed too many times in the past before George Floyd, but the response to this man’s death is international and all-encompassing. I was a grade-schooler during the Civil Rights 1960s. I watched Birmingham demonstrators hosed and the Selma – Montgomery…

Workers’ Memorial Day – Remember those whose job took their life

Looking around our community, when we say employer, most will respond to State Farm, Country, or Illinois State University. We too often forget those who are building our roads, serving our food, or our public employees. COVID-19 has made us more aware of the risk. Going to work every day for some people means…