Urbana Joins Nation in Honoring Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln delivered his farewell address in Springfield 150 years ago as he was about to leave for Washington, D.C., and three months later, the first shots of the Civil War were fired.

To mark the anniversary of the start of the war, communities from all over the country simultaneously read the former president's farewell address on Friday in an attempt to break the Guinness Book of World Record for simultaneous reading of a single document. The reigning world record was set in 2006 when more than 223,000 people read from "Charlotte's Web."

The Guinness Book of World Records requires the reading to last five minutes, so people had to recite the brief speech three times. Don Owen, the assistant superintendent for Urbana School District 116, was among the nearly 50 people who participated in the mass reading at the Urbana City Building. Owen, who showed up with his two children, said the speech revealed a lot about Lincoln's presidency.

"He knew that even before the Civil War started that he was going to be a president remembered for either saving or destroying the union," Owen said. "That kind of intelligence and forethought is amazing for any president."

Organizers say it will be several weeks before they know if they broke the record

Meanwhile, Urbana is looking forward to more Lincoln events. City planner Rebecca Bird said in the next couple of months, the city will release a podcast outlining sites with connections to Lincoln.