“They may forget what you said...
...but they will never forget how you made them feel.” Carl W. Buehner
I'll be honest, I can't really think of much to base this blog post on, however, my October 18 was pretty fantastic, and I just really have to share that!
I was planning on going to Eldon House in the morning to do some work and then going in again in the evening to help out with their program. Instead, I got the morning off! So being a good history student, I decided to head to campus and attend the lecture by Dr. Craig Simpson on the Gettysburg address.
Now, the civil war is a topic incredibly (as seen in a previous post) close to my heart. I've been to several Northern battlefields as well as some Southern sites, I had the pleasure of giving an interpretive talk on the Gettysburg battlefield about artillery for an undergrad civil war class, and even the town of Shippensburg where I completed my undergrad was occupied by Confederate troops prior to the Battle of Gettysburg.
The Civil War is simply ubiquitous, which when Dr. Simpson described it as being a defining moment of the American experience, it's really hard to argue with that. There's still issues today. Of course Charlottesville was brought up and there are still debates on what to do with the statues reflecting the sentiments of the time, but what was absolutely fascinating was Dr. Simpson's analysis of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address.
I'm sure a majority of people in the States can recite the opening line by memory, but why? What makes Lincoln's Gettysburg Address so memorable? It's 272 words, three paragraphs, and took Lincoln two minutes to read. What speech could possible become so famous as to be published in every US document collection book I have ever seen?
For one thing, it was written to be delivered in a certain way as you read it. Go ahead, look at a copy of the text. Read it out loud. Here and there your voice gets louder and softer. Maybe at this spot you want to tap your desk with your fist, two sentences later your speech slows. You were never at the reading of the Gettysburg Address, you don't know how it was delivered, but somehow, 156 years later, it all sounds, well, right.
Now, Gettysburg was bloody, in fact it was the bloodiest battle of the entire war (the bloodiest single day was Antietam). 50,000 individuals were either killed, injured, or missing and it was the site of one of the more famous civilian deaths of the war, Mary Virginia Wade. Not to mention the state of Pennsylvania was torn to shreds by the confederates. Chambersburg was burned (again), Shippensburg was ransacked, and by the time Lincoln arrived in November of 1863, very few had recovered. The Gettysburg Address takes into account the grief these people were feeling. Any free space was a hospital and the town's houses were riddled with bullets and cannonballs. Addressing grief was a major factor in the speech.
Lastly, and possibly one of my favorite points Dr. Simpson made, is how easy the text is to memorize. He suggested that if you dedicated around 2 hours, you could probably have it memorized and honestly, he's right. Even if you do not feel like memorizing the whole thing, hearing it once or twice read to you, there are phrases that just stick with you. Without even clicking on the tab on my computer, I can mumble out lines here and there.
Back in Lincoln's time, illiteracy was still very much a thing. The Gettysburg Address could be printed in papers and spread around by posters, but those who could not read would never understand it. But they still did - because they heard it. And just like you and me, they remembered those few key phrases. Even in the third paragraph, the most daunting (if you can even say that) of the three there is a fulcrum, as Simpson suggested, that carries you through to the end.
There are many paths public historians and historians can take. You may end up in a museum or an archive, or any level of administration, but almost every historian will at some point cross paths with public speaking.
So what did I learn from the lecture? Of course a good amount about the Gettysburg address; information that I have never heard. But in that hour long presentation, my attention never drifted. I suppose when you present a tour or lecture, that should be your ultimate goal. No matter who is in the audience, engaging and captivating them is what you hope to do because as my title says even if they don't remember every piece of information, they will remember how you made them feel and sometimes, that feeling can last a lifetime.
I'll be honest, I can't really think of much to base this blog post on, however, my October 18 was pretty fantastic, and I just really have to share that!
I was planning on going to Eldon House in the morning to do some work and then going in again in the evening to help out with their program. Instead, I got the morning off! So being a good history student, I decided to head to campus and attend the lecture by Dr. Craig Simpson on the Gettysburg address.
Now, the civil war is a topic incredibly (as seen in a previous post) close to my heart. I've been to several Northern battlefields as well as some Southern sites, I had the pleasure of giving an interpretive talk on the Gettysburg battlefield about artillery for an undergrad civil war class, and even the town of Shippensburg where I completed my undergrad was occupied by Confederate troops prior to the Battle of Gettysburg.
The Civil War is simply ubiquitous, which when Dr. Simpson described it as being a defining moment of the American experience, it's really hard to argue with that. There's still issues today. Of course Charlottesville was brought up and there are still debates on what to do with the statues reflecting the sentiments of the time, but what was absolutely fascinating was Dr. Simpson's analysis of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address.
I'm sure a majority of people in the States can recite the opening line by memory, but why? What makes Lincoln's Gettysburg Address so memorable? It's 272 words, three paragraphs, and took Lincoln two minutes to read. What speech could possible become so famous as to be published in every US document collection book I have ever seen?
For one thing, it was written to be delivered in a certain way as you read it. Go ahead, look at a copy of the text. Read it out loud. Here and there your voice gets louder and softer. Maybe at this spot you want to tap your desk with your fist, two sentences later your speech slows. You were never at the reading of the Gettysburg Address, you don't know how it was delivered, but somehow, 156 years later, it all sounds, well, right.
Now, Gettysburg was bloody, in fact it was the bloodiest battle of the entire war (the bloodiest single day was Antietam). 50,000 individuals were either killed, injured, or missing and it was the site of one of the more famous civilian deaths of the war, Mary Virginia Wade. Not to mention the state of Pennsylvania was torn to shreds by the confederates. Chambersburg was burned (again), Shippensburg was ransacked, and by the time Lincoln arrived in November of 1863, very few had recovered. The Gettysburg Address takes into account the grief these people were feeling. Any free space was a hospital and the town's houses were riddled with bullets and cannonballs. Addressing grief was a major factor in the speech.
 |
| View from the top of the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg - where Brig. Gen. John Buford witnessed the beginning of the battle. |
Back in Lincoln's time, illiteracy was still very much a thing. The Gettysburg Address could be printed in papers and spread around by posters, but those who could not read would never understand it. But they still did - because they heard it. And just like you and me, they remembered those few key phrases. Even in the third paragraph, the most daunting (if you can even say that) of the three there is a fulcrum, as Simpson suggested, that carries you through to the end.
The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.
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| Lincoln statue outside of the Gettysburg visitor center. |
I get it if US history isn't your thing. If you could care less about the Civil War, fine, but the way Dr. Simpson presented his topic - it flowed. Portions stuck with you, everything was very natural - it can be appreciated as a way we can interpret history. Not with gravitas and lengthy theories, but with brevity, grace, and passion.
There are many paths public historians and historians can take. You may end up in a museum or an archive, or any level of administration, but almost every historian will at some point cross paths with public speaking.
So what did I learn from the lecture? Of course a good amount about the Gettysburg address; information that I have never heard. But in that hour long presentation, my attention never drifted. I suppose when you present a tour or lecture, that should be your ultimate goal. No matter who is in the audience, engaging and captivating them is what you hope to do because as my title says even if they don't remember every piece of information, they will remember how you made them feel and sometimes, that feeling can last a lifetime.
I regret not going to Dr. Simpson's talk! I am no American historian, but I do remember thoroughly enjoying learning about Lincoln and the Gettysburg address in my American history class. I think looking at the speech linguistically is also interesting, it goes to show how many fields crossover with history. I mean there are a number of speeches I can recite lines from, such as; I have a dream, "we will fight on the beaches", "Ich bin ein Berliner" and a few more, but even as a Canadian I can recite a few lines from the Gettysburg address prior to even learning about it in my American history class! I think these speeches are amazing because of how timeless they become, because similar to how you see the Gettysburg address, you can read these other speeches and maybe have different infliction here and there but they still feel right! But yes, I can confirm that at some point we all will have to do public speaking, heck I have had to go on live television (incredibly nerve wracking!!), so we can probably take a few notes from Dr. Simpson to try and always keep or audience enthralled! Awesome post, really enjoyed reading it! - Kat
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