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Gettysburg Foundation receives $1 million gift for Lincoln-related programs

(Gettysburg, Pennsylvania) - 3/4/2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ...


CONTACT:

Director of Communications & Marketing

Gettysburg Foundation

(717) 338-1243

[email protected]

 

As Gettysburg and the nation celebrate the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln�s birth, the Gettysburg Foundation is pleased to announce it has received a gift of $1 million from the Robert H. Smith Family Foundation. The contribution will be used to significantly expand educational programs that focus on Lincoln and his presidency.

As a result of the gift, the Gettysburg Foundation has developed the David Bruce Smith Education Initiative, a 10-year effort that will focus on Lincoln-related public programs, scholarship and distance-learning activities.

"Today, Lincoln�s call for �a new birth of freedom,� which he made at Gettysburg, is as relevant as ever,� said Gettysburg Foundation President Robert C. Wilburn. �We are constantly working to make that connection between past and present for our visitors. The generous gift from the Robert H. Smith Family Foundation will allow us to engage visitors on a higher level and help people to understand Lincoln�s legacy."

The David Bruce Smith Education Initiative debuts this year and will engage Gettysburg visitors with a variety of Lincoln-focused programs:

  • "In the Footsteps of Lincoln" walking tour follows the path of Abraham Lincoln at Gettysburg, including his arrival at the Historic Gettysburg Railroad Station, his overnight stay at David Wills� home (now open to the public as a National Park Service site) and his ride down Baltimore Street to help dedicate the Soldiers� National Cemetery. This self-guided tour brochure will be available beginning in April.
  • A Summer Performance Series at the Museum and Visitor Center features theatrical and musical performances.
  • Special tours of Soldiers� National Cemetery focus on the Gettysburg Address and the circumstances surrounding Lincoln�s visit. These cemetery tours will be available in the fall.
  • A proposed unveiling of a statue of Abraham Lincoln at the Museum and Visitor Center, which would be the latest in a series of presidential statues created by renowned sculptors Ivan and Elliot Schwartz of StudioEIS in Brooklyn, New York, and funded by Robert H. and Clarice Smith. Gettysburg�s proposed sculpture would be unveiled on Nov. 19, the anniversary of the Gettysburg Address.

The second year of the David Bruce Smith Education Initiative will continue the public programs and introduce an annual lecture, an immersion experience for future history teachers and a portable exhibit on Lincoln and the Gettysburg Address.

"I consider Abraham Lincoln one of our greatest presidents. He was a man of great patience, who refused to demonize others; a person of the middle, who could build bridges across chasms,� said Robert H. Smith. �This may be one of his most important legacies, his unswerving desire to reunite the American people. It is a privilege to help the Gettysburg Foundation expand their programs, enabling us to better understand the importance of our 16th president.�

Visitors interested in learning more information about the David Bruce Smith Education Initiative and other programs at the Museum and Visitor Center at Gettysburg National Military Park can visit www.gettysburgfoundation.org or send an e-mail to [email protected] to be added to the programming e-mail list.

The Gettysburg Foundation is a private, non-profit educational organization working in partnership with the National Park Service to enhance preservation and understanding of the heritage and lasting significance of Gettysburg. In 2008, the Foundation and the National Park Service opened the new Museum and Visitor Center at Gettysburg National Military Park.