It was just over 150 years ago that Abraham Lincoln visited the site of one of the Civil War's bloodiest battles to help dedicate a cemetery for soldiers who had perished in the fighting.
"Four score and seven years ago," his brief address began, "our fathers brought forth, upon this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal."
The Gettysburg Address is recited annually at various places around the country, including at a tiny boys school in Putney, Vt., not far from where filmmaker Ken Burns lives. Memorizing the speech can be a daunting challenge for the students, who struggle with learning differences such as dyslexia, ADHD and dysgraphia. But the boys persevere.
"I was so moved, I mean tears just ran down my cheeks, and I said, 'Somebody should make a film of this,' " Burns told Scott Shafer in an interview for "KQED Newsroom."
That inspiration turned into a 90-minute documentary, "The Address," slated to air on PBS this spring. The film weaves together the context and importance of Lincoln's speech with the stories of the boys at the Greenwood School as they embark on their annual mission.