OMG Abraham Lincoln Sent Me a Txt
Dear Abraham Lincoln Friend,
Abraham Lincoln embraced new technology: railroads, the telegraph, advanced weaponry. As the only president to hold a patent for his own invention, he believed technology could save and improve our nation. The power of todays Internet to distribute information and provoke discussion - the lifeblood of modern democracy - would have appealed to our 16th president. Lincoln, who spent countless hours in the telegraph office, certainly would have embraced the Web for its ability to communicate instantly, democratize education, unite people in social networks, and provide a forum for an open exchange of ideas.
The Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission has relied on the Internet to expand the reach of the celebrations: by making educational materials available online, by emailing news about events, by providing resources and ideas for local celebrations. The ALBCs National Teach-In was Webcast live to more than 5,000 schools in the United States and around the world. On February 12th alone, our Web site received 22,000 unique visitors every minute.
Now, the ALBC and the ALBC Foundation have a tremendous opportunity. Through a greatly expanded Web site, we can open a new, digital era in Lincoln studies and create a vehicle to promote Lincoln as a model for ongoing civic engagement around todays most pressing issues.
As we turn toward the future, we are determined to build on the work we began during the Bicentennial. We hope that a greatly expanded and more interactive Web site will create an important and lasting tribute.
We are working with tech savvy Lincoln scholars like Matt Pinsker of Dickinson College and Vernon Burton of the University of Illinois to help us imagine a new digital age in Lincoln studies. We are reaching out to other scholars in the vanguard of this new age to create a blue-ribbon advisory group.
The possibilities are limitless. We want to publish the first digital Lincoln biography, where readers can see pages of text enhanced not just by occasional images or photographs, but also by three-dimensional objects, video, audio, interactive maps and even clickable footnotes that would take the reader right to the primary sources. Or consider a virtual tour of Lincolns America. With your support, we have the ability to create custom layers of historic maps, enhanced with 3D models of historic structures and other rich information to allow visitors to experience Lincolns America. Virtual tourists could begin with a satellite image of the United States in 1860, zoom into a street map of Springfield, tour homes and buildings across the small town, including a trip inside Lincolns home at Eighth and Jackson.
The Web holds incredible potential for opening access to Lincoln resources like never before. Never-seen Lincoln artifacts locked in library and museum vaults - and even those held in private collections - could be made available to everyone in virtual exhibits.
In his complexity, Lincoln speaks to all ethnic and racial groups, to people of all ages and nationalities. The digital Lincoln we envision will help us to understand him even better. It also will help us to continue an important goal of the Bicentennial: to promote civic engagement in the spirit of Lincolns ideals. The Bicentennial has given us a unique opportunity to make a difference in our civic life. Our national Town Hall series is intended to make a direct impact on the communities where they are held. We hope to add live audio and video streaming to our Web site to expand the Town Halls reach beyond those communities. Virtual, interactive town halls - town halls without walls - with some of the nations leading intellectuals would open the discussion even further. Of course, the audio, video, and virtual town halls will be archived online for on-demand retrieval long into the future.
We envision our Web site as a place where the public at large and the Lincoln community are drawn together, where diverse groups of people can build and maintain meaningful connections. We seek to foster unique collaborations, to ensure access to all, to digitize papers, and to provide an avenue for people to continue their education with resources like our unique Lincoln Speakers Pool, available only on the ALBC Web site. The Bicentennial Web site can be a resource for lifelong learning, and we hope future Teach-In Webcasts contribute to that learning.
The ALBC Web site can be the place where we strive on to finish the work we are in: facilitating dialogue and collaborations, offering educational resources, promoting new scholarship.
Only an expanded, more robust Web site will allow us to reach these goals. Wont you help us make these things possible? The ALBC Foundation, a 501(c)3, will carry on the work begun by the ALBC. Please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any size to support the continued development of the Bicentennial Web site. Donors who contribute $20.00 or more will receive a free copy of the bicentennial commemorative publication, A New Birth of Freedom. Substantial donors will have the honor of legacy-naming opportunities on the site. All gifts will support a new age in Lincoln studies and civic engagement, ensure access for all, and solidify the legacy of a treasured resource.
To make a secure online donation, please visit: www.abrahamlincoln200.org and click Donate. We thank you for your continued support.
Sincerely,
Eileen R. Mackevich
Executive Director
Abraham Lincoln embraced new technology: railroads, the telegraph, advanced weaponry. As the only president to hold a patent for his own invention, he believed technology could save and improve our nation. The power of todays Internet to distribute information and provoke discussion - the lifeblood of modern democracy - would have appealed to our 16th president. Lincoln, who spent countless hours in the telegraph office, certainly would have embraced the Web for its ability to communicate instantly, democratize education, unite people in social networks, and provide a forum for an open exchange of ideas.
The Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission has relied on the Internet to expand the reach of the celebrations: by making educational materials available online, by emailing news about events, by providing resources and ideas for local celebrations. The ALBCs National Teach-In was Webcast live to more than 5,000 schools in the United States and around the world. On February 12th alone, our Web site received 22,000 unique visitors every minute.
Now, the ALBC and the ALBC Foundation have a tremendous opportunity. Through a greatly expanded Web site, we can open a new, digital era in Lincoln studies and create a vehicle to promote Lincoln as a model for ongoing civic engagement around todays most pressing issues.
As we turn toward the future, we are determined to build on the work we began during the Bicentennial. We hope that a greatly expanded and more interactive Web site will create an important and lasting tribute.
We are working with tech savvy Lincoln scholars like Matt Pinsker of Dickinson College and Vernon Burton of the University of Illinois to help us imagine a new digital age in Lincoln studies. We are reaching out to other scholars in the vanguard of this new age to create a blue-ribbon advisory group.
The possibilities are limitless. We want to publish the first digital Lincoln biography, where readers can see pages of text enhanced not just by occasional images or photographs, but also by three-dimensional objects, video, audio, interactive maps and even clickable footnotes that would take the reader right to the primary sources. Or consider a virtual tour of Lincolns America. With your support, we have the ability to create custom layers of historic maps, enhanced with 3D models of historic structures and other rich information to allow visitors to experience Lincolns America. Virtual tourists could begin with a satellite image of the United States in 1860, zoom into a street map of Springfield, tour homes and buildings across the small town, including a trip inside Lincolns home at Eighth and Jackson.
The Web holds incredible potential for opening access to Lincoln resources like never before. Never-seen Lincoln artifacts locked in library and museum vaults - and even those held in private collections - could be made available to everyone in virtual exhibits.
In his complexity, Lincoln speaks to all ethnic and racial groups, to people of all ages and nationalities. The digital Lincoln we envision will help us to understand him even better. It also will help us to continue an important goal of the Bicentennial: to promote civic engagement in the spirit of Lincolns ideals. The Bicentennial has given us a unique opportunity to make a difference in our civic life. Our national Town Hall series is intended to make a direct impact on the communities where they are held. We hope to add live audio and video streaming to our Web site to expand the Town Halls reach beyond those communities. Virtual, interactive town halls - town halls without walls - with some of the nations leading intellectuals would open the discussion even further. Of course, the audio, video, and virtual town halls will be archived online for on-demand retrieval long into the future.
We envision our Web site as a place where the public at large and the Lincoln community are drawn together, where diverse groups of people can build and maintain meaningful connections. We seek to foster unique collaborations, to ensure access to all, to digitize papers, and to provide an avenue for people to continue their education with resources like our unique Lincoln Speakers Pool, available only on the ALBC Web site. The Bicentennial Web site can be a resource for lifelong learning, and we hope future Teach-In Webcasts contribute to that learning.
The ALBC Web site can be the place where we strive on to finish the work we are in: facilitating dialogue and collaborations, offering educational resources, promoting new scholarship.
Only an expanded, more robust Web site will allow us to reach these goals. Wont you help us make these things possible? The ALBC Foundation, a 501(c)3, will carry on the work begun by the ALBC. Please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any size to support the continued development of the Bicentennial Web site. Donors who contribute $20.00 or more will receive a free copy of the bicentennial commemorative publication, A New Birth of Freedom. Substantial donors will have the honor of legacy-naming opportunities on the site. All gifts will support a new age in Lincoln studies and civic engagement, ensure access for all, and solidify the legacy of a treasured resource.
To make a secure online donation, please visit: www.abrahamlincoln200.org and click Donate. We thank you for your continued support.
Sincerely,
Eileen R. Mackevich
Executive Director
posted by yelhsacrow at
9:34 AM
|
0 Comments
