Last November, Steven Spielberg’s new film Lincoln brought the story of Abraham Lincoln and the passage of the thirteenth amendment to the screen. While the film achieved critical and box office success during its run in theaters and is currently nominated for several Academy Awards, including Best Picture, perhaps the film’s most lasting success may be yet to come. This week, Disney and Participant Media announced a new education outreach initiative, in which copies of Lincoln will be distributed to schools across the United States.
The new social action campaign, entitled “Stand Tall: Live Like Lincoln,” will seek to educate students about the significance of Lincoln’s leadership and the time period in which he served as president to our nation’s history. Steven Spielberg said in a statement:
“As more and more people began to see the film, we received letters from teachers asking if it could be available in their classrooms. We realized that the educational value that ‘Lincoln’ could have was not only for the adult audiences — who have studied his life in history books — but for the young students in the classroom as well.”
The first part of the education initiative, which took place last Tuesday, involved screenings of the film in eight towns across the country, all of which are named Lincoln. A new wave of screenings will take place in mid-March, in which Lincoln will be shown in 15 Lincoln high schools, many of which are in underserved communities.
However, students in all American schools will soon have the opportunity to see Lincoln as well, as the education campaign will also be donating a free copy of Lincoln, along with an educator’s guide, to every single middle and high school in the country. The effort is being funded by Participant Media, DreamWorks, and Fox with Disney In-Home, who will also create the packaging. Distribution of the film and education guide will be done through Disney Educational Productions.
