Gettysburg Address by President Lincoln Marker

Year Erected: 1916.

This plaque was originally erected in 1916 at this approximate location, where the former West De Pere high school building stood. It was part of a series of plaques commissioned by Congress in 1909 to be placed primarily in national cemeteries, recognizing the historical impact of President Lincoln as the initiator of the National Cemetery system. The plaques were cast at the U.S. Army Rock Island Arsenal in Illinois.

After the high school building was razed, the site was transformed into a park, which was formally named Woodrow Wilson Park in 1924.

The erection of the plaque was funded by James Hughes Jr. Born in Green Bay, Hughes moved to De Pere in 1904. He served on the De Pere Public Library Board for twelve years, the West De Pere School Board from 1914 to 1937, as well as represented the 8^th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1933-1935. He donated the plaque when he was thirty-two years old, shortly after first being elected to the school board.