President Lincoln visits Porter Library
Westlake resident Mel Maurer will present Abraham Lincoln's historic Gettysburg Address on Feb. 19 at Porter Library.
In honor of Presidents Day, Feb. 19, President Abraham Lincoln, our 16th president, will be at Porter Library from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. to greet the public and to autograph copies of his Gettysburg Address.
Westlake resident Mel Maurer, as Lincoln, will open this event at 11 a.m. with a performance of that historic talk. And do it again at noon. Hear the address as you may have never heard it before – as Lincoln delivered it on Nov. 19, 1863. Dedicating a cemetery for those who lost their lives in the Battle of Gettysburg that July, speaking words that will live on forever.
Just after noon that day in 1863, after other speeches and music from a choir, Lincoln rose, talk in hand, walked to the podium and began to speak to the large crowd before him. Invited to say only “a few appropriate words,” he did, using only 272 words to explain the Civil War. Words which have inspired our country and the world ever since.
He began, “Four score and seven years ago…” Come, hear the rest of it on Feb. 19 and get a copy of it for yourself.
Mel Maurer
Mel Maurer is a retired Manager of Information Technology. In retirement, he has pursued his passion for writing, speaking and American History - focusing on The Civil War with special emphasis on Abraham Lincoln. He is a member, past president, and past Historian of the Cleveland Civil War Roundtable and Lifetime member of The Lincoln Forum; a member of the Association of Lincoln Presenter (ALP); a former member of the Titanic Historic Society; a member of the National MS Society’s Volunteer Hall of Fame and a Presenter for the Institute in Learning in Retirement (ILR). As a speaker, he writes and speaks on a variety of topics including the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln, The Titanic, and performs in one man shows as President Lincoln, Archibald Grace IV (Titanic survivor), Teddy Roosevelt, Wyatt Earp, Ernest Hemingway, and Clint Hill (Secret Service Agent for Jackie Kennedy).