150 Years Later, Paper Retracts its Editorial About the 'Silly' Gettysburg Address

By: Craig Silverman | Poynter

In 1863, the Harrisburg, Pa. paper then known as the Patriot & Union published an editorial about Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address.

They panned it: We pass over the silly remarks of the President. For the credit of the nation we are willing that the veil of oblivion shall be dropped over them and that they shall be no more repeated or thought of. That sentence has taken on a life of its own, as noted in a thorough and fascinating piece by Donald Gilliland that looks back on the infamous editorial, and the many misconceptions that accompany it.