Dedication of the Soldiers’ National Cemetery and the Gettysburg Address to be Commemorated on the 155th Anniversary
November 13, 2018
November 19 marks the anniversary of the dedication of the Soldiers’ National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. President Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address at the cemetery’s dedication ceremonies in 1863. Events commemorating the anniversary include:
Remembrance Day Illumination (Weather Permitting)
Saturday, Nov. 17 from 5:30 – 9 p.m.
A solemn commemoration featuring a luminary candle on each of the 3,512 Civil War soldier’s graves in the Soldiers’ National Cemetery. Names of the fallen soldiers will be read throughout the evening. The event, sponsored by the Gettysburg Foundation, is free and open to the public.
David Wills House and Gettysburg Lincoln Railroad Station Open House
Sunday, Nov. 18 from 6 – 8 p.m.
Experience the holidays at the David Wills House and the Gettysburg Lincoln Railroad Station in downtown Gettysburg. The open house, sponsored by the Gettysburg Foundation, allows visitors to explore the train station where President Abraham Lincoln arrived for the dedication of the Soldiers’ National Cemetery and to see the home where Lincoln stayed the night before giving the famous Gettysburg Address.
Dedication Day Ceremonies
Monday, Nov. 19 at 10:15 a.m.
Dedication Day 2018 ceremonies commemorating the 155th anniversary of President Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address and the dedication of the Soldiers’ National Cemetery begin with a wreath laying at the Soldiers’ National Monument. The formal program and keynote address by Janet Morgan Riggs, President of Gettysburg College, follow at the Rostrum at 10:30 a.m. The event is sponsored by Gettysburg National Military Park, the Lincoln Fellowship of Pennsylvania, the Gettysburg Foundation and Gettysburg College.