WILMINGTON – Historian Gary Kersey will appear Thursday at the Murphy Theatre in a program honoring Abraham Lincoln’s address at Gettysburg in 1863.

A well-known expert on President Lincoln, Kersey is scheduled to speak at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 19 on the 152nd anniversary of the dedication of the Gettysburg National Cemetery in Pennsylvania, the site of Lincoln’s immortal address. The performance is free, and no ticket is required for admission.

Entitled A Near Miss: Abraham Lincoln at Gettysburg, the remarks by Kersey will examine the famous address by President Lincoln and the catastrophic battle that occurred in the Pennsylvania countryside during the height of the American Civil War in 1863.

“More than 150 years later, Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address remains one of the greatest literary and political works in world history that is still often quoted by freedom-loving people everywhere,” said Kersey.

Kersey’s remarks will focus on the events leading up to the dedication of the cemetery four months after the battle, the savagery of what occurred at Gettysburg during the summer of 1863 and its aftermath, and the relevance of the events in our lives today, he said.

“Our American experiment in ordered liberty was transformed by the 272 words spoken by President Lincoln on that fateful November day in Gettysburg. The gripping story of what happened on that battlefield, and how that speech occurred is as important and relevant to us today as it was 152 years ago,” Kersey said. “Each new generation of Americans should learn the lessons of Lincoln at Gettysburg,” he added.