#gettsyburg

On this day in 1863, Boston’s Edward Everett delivered an address at the dedication of Soldiers National Cemetery at Gettysburg. Though Everett’s lengthy speech was slated to be the main event at the cemetery dedication, it has come to be known as “The Other Gettsyburg Address.” After Everett spoke for nearly two hours, President Abraham Lincoln took the stage for about two minutes.  His brief remarks are now remembered as the famous and familiar Gettysburg Address.

Everett himself recognized the power of Lincoln’s remarks.The day after the dedication, Everett wrote to Lincoln, “ “I should be glad if I could flatter myself, that I came as near to the central idea of the occasion in two hours as you did in two minutes “ (Read the letter here.)

Though many individuals praised Lincoln’s address immediately, Everett’s remarks were well received and generally recognized asthe Gettysburg Address.  A few weeks after the cemetery dedication, Boston’s Board of Aldermen ordered that Edward Everett’s remarks be published in a pamphlet for public distribution. It wasn’t until several decades later that Lincoln’s remarks became known as “The Gettysburg Address.”

Order to publish the remarks of Edward Everett at Gettysburg, 1863 December 3,  City Council proceedings, (Collection 0100.001), Boston City Archives