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Arts & Culture

The Address - A Film By Ken Burns

Boys gathering to get ready for Morning Circle.
Courtesy of Lindsay Taylor Jackson
Boys gathering to get ready for Morning Circle.

Airs Tuesday, April 15, 2014 at 9 p.m. on KPBS TV

Cooper and Ned in Marilyn Bookwalter's tutorial class helping each other out on a question.
Courtesy of Lindsay Taylor Jackson
Cooper and Ned in Marilyn Bookwalter's tutorial class helping each other out on a question.
Obi in Bruce Stephenson's tutorial class.
Courtesy of Lindsay Taylor Jackson
Obi in Bruce Stephenson's tutorial class.

Watch Videos And Share Yours

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.

"The Address," a new film from award-winning filmmaker Ken Burns, will air April 15, 2014 on PBS. 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 challenging. "The Address" reveals how President Lincoln’s historic words motivate and engage these students a century-and-a-half after Lincoln delivered a speech that would go on to embolden the Union cause with some of the most stirring words ever spoken.

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In November 2013, on the occasion of the 150th anniversary and in conjunction with the film, Burns and PBS launched LearnTheAddress.org, an initiative that invites people to upload videos of themselves reciting the Gettysburg Address to the project’s web site. To date, the site has accepted thousands of submissions from people across the country.

Ken Burns (PBS) is on Facebook, and you can follow @TheAddressPBS on Twitter.