Addressing the Gettysburg Address 150th Anniversary

Tips and resources for attending Dedication Day activities

Information compiled by Anna Seils

This year commemorates not only the 150^th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg, but also the Gettysburg Address. The Dedication Day ceremony will take place on November 19, and this year’s event brings with it crowds.

The ceremony will take place at 10 a.m. in the Soldiers’ National Cemetery. Pulitzer Prize-winning historian James McPherson will speak at the event, which also features Gov. Tom Corbett, a reading of the Gettysburg Address by Lincoln portrayer James Getty and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services will administer the Oath of Allegiance to 16 new citizens. The ceremony will last approximately 90 minutes and is free; no ticket will be required to enter. 

Parking:  Free parking is provided at the Gettysburg National Military Park Museum and Visitor Center, 1195 Baltimore Pike, and numerous satellite parking areas with free shuttles. When the Museum and Visitor Center lots are full, vehicles will be directed to the Outlet Shoppes at Gettysburg, 1863 Gettysburg Village Dr., and then to other lots as needed. Temporary signs will be in place to direct cars to the overflow lots as needed.  

Accessibility: A limited number of handicapped parking spaces will be available in the National Cemetery south parking lot. People with mobility impairments should use the cemetery entrance on Taneytown Road.  

Shuttle/Transportation: The York Adams Transportation Authority will provide free shuttle buses from satellite parking areas beginning at 6 a.m. and running until 8:30 p.m.

Charter Bus Parking and Drop-off: Charter buses and motor coaches must drop off and park along Hancock Avenue via United States Avenue.

Additional Viewing Areas for the Public: Due to limited viewing space for the public in the National Cemetery, additional free viewing areas for a live simulcast are available. An outdoor viewing area with 2,000 chairs will be set up on the lawn north of Meade’s Headquarters in Gettysburg National Military Park. Indoor viewing areas are available at the Majestic Theater, 25 Carlisle St., and at the Gateway Gettysburg Theater, 20 Presidential Circle. No tickets are required for these locations. Theater seating is available beginning at 8:30 a.m.  

Live coverage of the event begins at 9 a.m. with a musical prelude and the ceremony beginning at 10 a.m. Live coverage will be available via the Internet by following links from the park website and the Gettysburg Foundation website.

Here’s a summary of more events taking place on November 19:

From Lincoln’s Desk: A Special Display of Signed Documents – A special exhibit in the Gettysburg Address Gallery of the Museum of the American Civil War including the following documents: pages with signatures of individuals who attended the November 19, 1863 Dedication Ceremony in Gettysburg; a letter from President Lincoln to a member of his administration specifying remarks in a newspaper; and a signed pardon from President Lincoln. Opening Saturday, November 16, at the Gettysburg National Military Park Museum and Visitor Center, 1195 Baltimore Pike. Admission is included in the price of the Cyclorama, Film and Museum ticket. Open daily, 8 a.m.-5 p.m.

Graveside Salute to the U.S. Colored Troops – On November 19 at noon in the Soldiers’ National Cemetery at the grave of Charles H. Parker, located along the west side of the cemetery. Keynote speaker is Scott Hancock, associate professor of History and Africana Studies at Gettysburg College. Sponsored by “For the Cause” Productions and Gettysburg National Military Park. For more information, go to www.gettysburghistories.com.

Bliss Farm Tree Planting Dedication – On November 19 at 2:30 p.m., the Journey Through Hallowed Ground Partnership, in collaboration with Gettysburg National Military Park and The Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resource’s TreeVitalize program, will conduct a tree planting ceremony at the Bliss Farm on the fields of Pickett’s Charge. The tree planting is part of the Journey Through Hallowed Ground Partnership’s Living Legacy Project, an initiative with the goal of planting one tree for each of the 620,000 soldiers that died during the American Civil War. The ceremony is free and open to the public and includes remarks by park Superintendent Bob Kirby, keynote remarks by General Gordon R. Sullivan (USA – Retired), a former Army Chief of Staff and a performance by the West Point Alumni Glee Club. The event takes place on Long Lane just west of Steinwehr Avenue. More information can be found at www.hallowedground.org.

Gettysburg Addresses Lincoln Event – On November 19 at 4 p.m. at the Gettysburg Presbyterian Church, 200 Baltimore St., Brian M. Jordan, Civil War scholar and adjust instructor in Civil War Era Studies at Gettysburg College, will speak on “The Unfinished Work: Union Veterans, The Gettysburg Address, and the Meaning of the Civil War.” Call 717-334-0753 for more details.