★ Coordinated by the Association of Lincoln Presenters and the 50 Capitols Foundation Questions? Mickey@50Capitols.com
Thursday, November 19, 2026 · 3:00 PM Eastern

Lincoln's Speech that Saved America

Volunteer to recite the Gettysburg Address at your state Capitol or county courthouse, at the same moment as patriots in other states, in the year of America's 250th anniversary.

Volunteer to recite See which states are covered

Coordinated by the Association of Lincoln Presenters and the 50 Capitols Foundation

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The Speech that Saved America

A new birth of freedom, 163 years later

On November 19, 1863, Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address in just two and a half minutes, and it helped save and unify our country. It has been called America's 2nd Declaration of Independence.

So it is only fitting that, in the year of America's 250th anniversary, it be recited publicly on November 19th at 3:00 PM Eastern. Help us celebrate our nation's independence and new birth of freedom, and pay respect to all the soldiers who have given the last full measure of devotion to preserve our country.

“…that these dead shall not have died in vain.”
The Soldiers' National Monument at Gettysburg National Cemetery, surrounded by small American flags
Soldiers' National Monument, Gettysburg National Cemetery

When

Thursday, November 19, 2026, the 163rd anniversary of the address. Every reading begins at 3:00 PM Eastern.

Where

The steps of your state Capitol building, or your county courthouse. You choose the spot that works for your community.

Who

Coordinated by the Association of Lincoln Presenters and the 50 Capitols Foundation, and open to every patriot willing to stand and speak.

Why

To honor those who gave their lives for this nation, and to begin an annual tradition that shows our resolve.

Our first goal

The states Lincoln called home

We want the address recited in the states Lincoln grew up in, Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois, plus Tennessee, where the idea was born! From there, we hope it reaches every state and becomes an annual tradition.

Claim your state

Watch America fill in

Each state turns navy as soon as its first volunteer signs up. Click any state to volunteer there.

The map refreshes every few minutes as volunteers sign up.

Volunteer

Sign up to recite

It takes about two and a half minutes to deliver the speech (plus the intro), but only thirty seconds to sign up. Everything you need should be on this site, but if you have any questions, email Mickey@50Capitols.com or call (630) 669-1726. (Mickey is a true patriot who personally recited the Gettysburg Address at all 50 State Capitols in 2012.)

Thank you for volunteering

You're on the list. The Association of Lincoln Presenters and the 50 Capitols Foundation will reach out before November 19 with details.

Your local start time

Everyone begins together at 3:00 PM Eastern.

Time zoneBegin at

On the day

  • Arrive 20 minutes early and find a visible spot on the steps.
  • Begin at your local start time. The address runs about two and a half minutes, plus the intro.
  • Invite friends, family and local press. Take a photo or video to share.
  • Period dress is welcome but never required.
“…the last full measure of devotion.”

Every reading on November 19 honors the soldiers who gave their lives so that this nation might live.

The text

The Gettysburg Address

Delivered by President Abraham Lincoln at the dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, November 19, 1863. This is the Bliss copy, the version most often recited.

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate—we can not consecrate—we can not hallow—this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

Abraham Lincoln · November 19, 1863