Exhibition Collecting Memories: Treasures from the Library of Congress

Handwritten brown text on white paper. “Fellow Countrymen” and “Flynn” written in pencil on top left corner. — Abraham Lincoln. Second Inaugural Address, March 4, 1865. Abraham Lincoln Papers, Manuscript Division (002.03.00)

Handwritten brown text with edits on white paper. — Abraham Lincoln. Second Inaugural Address, March 4, 1865. Abraham Lincoln Papers, Manuscript Division (002.03.01)

Handwritten brown text on white paper. — Abraham Lincoln. Second Inaugural Address, March 4, 1865. Abraham Lincoln Papers, Manuscript Division (002.03.02)

Handwritten brown text with edits and smudges on white paper. — Abraham Lincoln. Second Inaugural Address, March 4, 1865. Abraham Lincoln Papers, Manuscript Division (002.03.03)

Typed text pasted to white page with handwritten edits. — Abraham Lincoln. Second Inaugural Address, March 4, 1865. Abraham Lincoln Papers, Manuscript Division (002.00.004)

Page one of the Gettysburg Address is written on Executive Mansion stationary with blue lines. At the top of the page, pre-printed fill-in-the-blank text reads, “Washington, _____, 186__.” Lincoln does not fill in the blanks. Instead, he writes the text of the speech without edits. — Abraham Lincoln. Gettysburg Address, 1863. (Nicolay Copy) Abraham Lincoln Papers, Manuscript Division (002.00.00)

Page two of Gettysburg Address is written in pencil on long, blue-lined paper. Bottom right corner is torn off. — Abraham Lincoln. Gettysburg Address, 1863. (Nicolay Copy) Abraham Lincoln Papers, Manuscript Division (002.00.01)

Draft of Gettysburg Address handwritten on a lined booklet with occasional edits. — Abraham Lincoln. Gettysburg Address, 1863. (Hay Copy) Abraham Lincoln Papers, Manuscript Division (002.00.01)

Black and white photographic print shows tightly packed crowd at Gettysburg Address. People in foreground and middle of picture are blurred. — Possibly David Bachrach, photographer. Abraham Lincoln (*hatless, at the center of the crowd*) at the cemetery dedication, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, November 19, 1863. Prints & Photographs Division

Memorialized in His Own Words

On March 4, 1865, Abraham Lincoln delivered his now-famous second inaugural address. In it, he identifies slavery as the cause of the war. He yields to God’s judgment on when the nation’s debt for the sin of slavery will be paid with the blood of the war. Lincoln’s address concluded with a path to achieving “a just, and a lasting peace.” The Lincoln Memorial, dedicated in 1922, memorializes the slain president in his own words. His second inaugural address and the Gettysburg Address are inscribed on the walls of the memorial.