Who: Sam Waterston, the New York Philharmonic, the Resistance Revival Chorus, Harold Holzer
What: A celebration of the Cooper Union’s new Voices from the Great Hall Digital Archive
Where: The Cooper Union, 7 East Seventh St. between Third & Fourth Aves.
When: Tuesday, May 17, free with advance RSVP, 7:00
Why: The Cooper Union celebrates the opening of its Voices from the Great Hall Digital Archive with a special free program on May 17 at 7:00, hosted by actor Sam Waterston; several times, the Emmy winner and Oscar nominee has portrayed Abraham Lincoln, who delivered one of his most memorable speeches in the Great Hall on February 27, 1860, in which he declared, “Let us have faith that right makes might, and in that faith, let us, to the end, dare to do our duty as we understand it.” Waterston reprised that speech in the Great Hall in 2004. The program will feature multimedia excerpts of original recordings of politicians, Supreme Court Justices, and others, with live presentations from the New York Philharmonic, the Resistance Revival Chorus, and Lincoln expert and author Harold Holzer. The archive goes back as far as 1859 with a copy of Frederick Douglass’ Paper and includes lectures, commencement addresses, music exhibitions, political pamphlets, campaign speeches, memorials, drawings, forums, audio and video recordings, and much more.