One of the most interesting elements of my research for Promise of Time was discovering that Abraham Lincoln was not the featured speaker at the Gettysburg National Cemetery dedication ceremony. Edward Everett was so honored, and he was scheduled to speak before the president on that cloudy day in November of 1863. Everett was a man noted for quality speeches and deliveries, his reputation for excellence in speech-making already established, as well as his tendency toward being long-winded. President Lincoln must have known this, for he planned his speech to be short, coming in at about two minutes compared to Everett's two hours.
Even with two hours of talk time, Abraham Lincoln's speech became the most well-remembered of the two, probably in great part because of its brevity.
In this picture, the only know photo showing Lincoln at Gettysburg, the president is shown in the circle. His bodyguard is on his right.Did you know that the Gettysburg Address was just over two minutes long? Such a short speech left such a large impact!
I had heard (probably in high school!) that Lincoln was not the only speaker, and I'm sure everyone at Gettysburg was thankful he had a short speech! But I've never seen this picture. Candid photos from the 1800s are really fascinating!
ReplyDeleteDonna
Hello,
ReplyDeleteI had the privilege of copyediting all of the "promise" books. Sandra really does her research and incorporates the history into her stories. Great job!
Love, love, love history, Aaron. Thanks for all you do to polish me up and make me shine!
ReplyDeleteDonna, couldn't resist including this picture. Sad that it's the only evidence of Lincoln's presence.