Four score and seven years ago our fathers 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 battle-field 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 that we should do this. But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate, we can not consecrate—we can not hallow—this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us, the living, rather, 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 for which they here gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

Abraham Lincoln
November 19, 1863

Carla Knorowski
Chief Executive Officer

Dear Friend,

The Gettysburg Address, written with 263 words and delivered in all of two-and-a-half minutes, is profound in its brevity, simplicity and poignancy. It is a gift from our beloved 16th President to our nation and our posterity—a reminder of the work we have before us as vigilant and mindful citizens.

The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum (ALPLM) preserves and protects one of five remaining copies of The Gettysburg Address written in President Lincoln's own hand, just as it preserves, protects and presents more than 51,000 other Lincoln-related artifacts and documents. All these treasures continue to inspire and teach and are made available to the public only through the ALPLM.

While we do not possess Lincoln's gift of expression and prose, we, like Lincoln wish to share a message with you as simply and poignantly as possible. Abraham Lincoln needs your support. The Gettysburg Address needs your continued care and attention. We ask you now, to highly resolve and commit yourself to doing so through a gift to the annual fund. Your financial support will help us in these very difficult economic times to ensure the Lincoln legacy is not simply an oral one, but one which can be permanently viewed and experienced in very real and tangible ways and shall not perish from the earth.

Please take a moment right now to contribute to the annual fund and honor the man, who, like those at Gettysburg, gave the last full measure of devotion and who gave his life, that the nation might live.

Thank you for your generous commitment,

Carla Knorowski
Chief Executive Officer