2024 News

“From these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause…”
               —President Abraham Lincoln, Dedication Day, Nov. 19, 1863

On Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, from 5:30 until 9:30 p.m., the Gettysburg Foundation will host the 22^nd annual Remembrance Day Illumination in Gettysburg National Cemetery. This time-honored tradition commemorates President Abraham Lincoln’s dedication of the Soldiers’ National Cemetery on Nov. 19, 1863, and honors the 3,512 Civil War soldiers interred there. With the support of Gettysburg Foundation donors and volunteers, each grave will be lit with a luminary candle, and the names of the fallen soldiers will be read aloud in remembrance of their sacrifice at Gettysburg. Guests may enter the cemetery through the gate at Taneytown Road or the gate at Baltimore Street. The event is dependent on favorable weather conditions.

Volunteers are needed to help set up the luminaries, read the soldiers’ names and clean up at the conclusion of the event. Positions are limited and will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis. Those interested in volunteering can contact Philanthropy Experience Coordinator, Erin Pearce, via email at epearce@gettysburgfoundation.org for further details. This event is free and open to the public and offers a unique opportunity to connect with the stories of sacrifice that have defined Gettysburg in our nation’s history.Another way to support the event is by sponsoring a luminary candle in honor or in memory of a loved one. Sponsorships can be arranged by calling 717-339-2150, online at GettysburgFoundation.org or by mailing the form included in the most recent edition of the Friends of Gettysburg Preservation & Progress magazine. The Gettysburg Foundation is accepting luminary candle sponsorships through Friday, Nov. 1, 2024.

At the dedication of the Cemetery in 1863, President Lincoln said, “The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.” Together, through its mission, realized in events such as the Remembrance Day Illumination, the Gettysburg Foundation works to honor the immortal words of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, dedicated to the “unfinished work” of those laid to rest at Gettysburg National Cemetery.