About the Film | The Address
The Address, a 90-minute feature length documentary by Ken Burns, will air on PBS April 15, 2014. The film tells the story of a tiny school in Putney Vermont, the Greenwood School, where each year the students are encouraged to memorize, practice and recite the Gettysburg Address. In its exploration of the Greenwood School, the film also unlocks the history, context and importance of President Lincoln's most powerful address.
The Greenwood School students, boys ages 11-17, all face a range of complex learning differences that make their personal, academic and social progress extremely challenging. The Address uncovers how President Lincoln's historic words motivate and engage these students a century-and-a-half after President Lincoln delivered a speech that would go on to embolden the Union cause with some of the most stirring words ever spoken.
In conjunction with The Address, PBS and WETA, the Washington, D.C. public television station that is Burns's production partner have launched a major national public outreach campaign to challenge everyone across the country, especially students, to learn about and read aloud the Gettysburg Address. The campaign will utilize social media and videos from public figures, political leaders, entertainers and Lincoln historians reading the Gettysburg Address and encourage people to submit their own videos to www.learntheaddress.org.
Join in and recite the Gettysburg Address
Ken Burns and PBS are challenging everyone across the country, especially students, to create a video of themselves reading or reciting the Gettysburg Address. Join the project by sharing your Gettysburg Address at learntheaddress.org