Civil War expert speaks on Gettysburg Dec. 4
Gabor Boritt will discuss his new book and the untold story of Lincoln's famous address, in Webster's Emerson Library
Seven score and three years ago, the 16th U.S. President Abraham Lincoln delivered a speech in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. It was less than 300 words uttered 143 years ago, but today is one of the most revered, researched and analyzed works by speechwriters and historians alike.
On Monday, Dec. 4, at 10 a.m., Civil War historian and director of the Civil War Institute at Gettysburg College, Gabor Boritt, will discuss his latest book, "The Gettysburg Gospel: The Lincoln Speech that Nobody Knows" (Nov. 2006, Simon and Schuster). The event will take place in the Webster University Emerson Library Conference Room, is free and open to the public. Parking is available in the Garden Park Plaza garage at 568 Garden Avenue.
Hungarian born and American educated, Boritt comes to Webster University thanks to George Herbert Walker III, Webster University lifetime trustee and U.S. Ambassador to Hungary.
According to the publisher, "Boritt provides a careful analysis of the Address and the public reaction to it. Boritt shows how Lincoln responded to the politics of the time and also clarifies which text he spoke from and how and when he wrote the various versions. Few people initially recognized the importance of the speech; it was frequently and, at times, hilariously misreported. But over the years the speech would grow into American scripture. It would acquire new and broader meanings. It would be better understood, but also misunderstood and misinterpreted to suit beliefs very different from Lincoln's."
Gabor Boritt has served in Vietnam with the U.S. Air Force as a teacher and as a loving mentor to a generation of students at Gettysburg College. At Gettysburg he serves as the founder and director of the Civil War Institute, Fluhrer Professor of Civil War Studies, and co-founder and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the $60,000 Lincoln Prizes.
Boritt has received various awards, fellowships, an honorary degree, and has been selected distinguished alumnus of his undergraduate institution, Yankton College, and his graduate school, Boston University. Boritt has held visiting appointments at the universities of Cambridge, Harvard, London, and Michigan, Ann Arbor. He is author, co-author, and editor of fifteen books on Lincoln and the Civil War, many of them Book of the Month Club and History Book Club selections.
On Monday, Dec. 4, at 10 a.m., Civil War historian and director of the Civil War Institute at Gettysburg College, Gabor Boritt, will discuss his latest book, "The Gettysburg Gospel: The Lincoln Speech that Nobody Knows" (Nov. 2006, Simon and Schuster). The event will take place in the Webster University Emerson Library Conference Room, is free and open to the public. Parking is available in the Garden Park Plaza garage at 568 Garden Avenue.
Hungarian born and American educated, Boritt comes to Webster University thanks to George Herbert Walker III, Webster University lifetime trustee and U.S. Ambassador to Hungary.
According to the publisher, "Boritt provides a careful analysis of the Address and the public reaction to it. Boritt shows how Lincoln responded to the politics of the time and also clarifies which text he spoke from and how and when he wrote the various versions. Few people initially recognized the importance of the speech; it was frequently and, at times, hilariously misreported. But over the years the speech would grow into American scripture. It would acquire new and broader meanings. It would be better understood, but also misunderstood and misinterpreted to suit beliefs very different from Lincoln's."
Gabor Boritt has served in Vietnam with the U.S. Air Force as a teacher and as a loving mentor to a generation of students at Gettysburg College. At Gettysburg he serves as the founder and director of the Civil War Institute, Fluhrer Professor of Civil War Studies, and co-founder and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the $60,000 Lincoln Prizes.
Boritt has received various awards, fellowships, an honorary degree, and has been selected distinguished alumnus of his undergraduate institution, Yankton College, and his graduate school, Boston University. Boritt has held visiting appointments at the universities of Cambridge, Harvard, London, and Michigan, Ann Arbor. He is author, co-author, and editor of fifteen books on Lincoln and the Civil War, many of them Book of the Month Club and History Book Club selections.
