I am loath to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.
A Lincoln, March 1861
Whatever your beliefs it’s time to lift your voice and be heard
O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed His grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!
O beautiful for heroes proved
In liberating strife,
Who more than self their country loved
And mercy more than life!
America! America!
God shed His grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea
Katherine Lee Bates, Samuel Ward
Gail Chumbley is the author of the two-part memoir “River of January,” and “River of January:Figure Eight.” She has also authored three stage plays, “Clay,” “Wolf By The Ears,” and “Peer Review,” all examining moments in American History. In addition, Gail is the co-writer of a screenplay, “Dancing On Air,” based upon the River books.
Gail Chumbley 