The Address America Contest has ended, however submissions will be received through January 20.
The winners of the contest are:
"Divided by fear, united in hope." (GRAND PRIZE WINNER)
Submitted by Donna Formica-Wilsey of Philadelphia, PA
"Shared dream. Shared destiny. Shared duty."
Submitted by Charlene Ann McGrady of West Chester, Pennsylvania
"Together we can change tomorrow, today."
Submitted by Casey Oehler
"America’s story is still being written."
Submitted by Renée Hope Guillory of Phoenix, AZ
"Complacency undermines us, change redeems us."
Submitted by Tiffany Roget of Los Angeles, CA
"These are testing times, study hard."
Submitted by Dyan Titchnell of Jenkintown, PA
The winners were chosen by a distinguished panel of judges, including Farai Chideya, multimedia journalist, author and host of NPR's News & Notes, a daily program about African-American and African diaspora issues that airs nationwide; Stephen J. Dubner, award-winning journalist and co-author of the international best-seller Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything; David Kusnet, Visiting Fellow at the Economic Policy Institute and former chief speech writer for President William J. Clinton; Jim McGrath, President of CEO Communications and current speech writer for President George H. W. Bush; SuChin Pak, reporter and television news correspondent for MTV News; and Michael Smerconish, Philadelphia Inquirer columnist, cable news commentator, and host of the nationally syndicated Michael Smerconish show on CBS Radio's The Big Talker 1210 AM, WPHT.
Authors of our judges’ six favorite submissions win a six-word memoir book from SMITH Magazine, a year’s membership to the National Constitution Center. Our grand prize winner has also won a leather bound volume of the Constitution.
About the Project
The National Constitution Center and SMITH Magazine ask you to help President -elect Obama inspire America.
In six words, give him guidance.
Offer ideas for his inaugural address.
Six memorable words for January 20th.
In six words, a President can say a lot: "To bind up the nation’s wounds" (Abraham Lincoln, 1865) "Pay any price, bear any burden" (John F. Kennedy, 1961)
So give your speech writing a try.
Did You Know?
George Washington's Inaugural Address remains the shortest on record at 135 words.
James Monroe was the first president to have an outdoor inauguration in Washington, D.C., which was held on the site of the current Supreme Court building.
William Henry Harrison delivered the longest inaugural address in history at 105 minutes, without wearing a hat or overcoat, on March 4, 1841.
Educational Materials
The following lesson introduces the history of the Presidential Inaugural Address, and ultimately provides a framework for students to write a "six word inaugural." The lesson opens with an introduction to the power of just six words, and then asks students to read past inaugural addresses to examine how the new president uses this unique oration.
Click here to download the lesson plan.
About the Book
Not Quite What I was Planning: Six Word Memoirs from Writers Famous and Obscure collects almost 1,000 six-word memoirs, including additions from many celebrities including Stephen Colbert, Amy Sedaris, Dave Eggers, Richard Ford, Deepak Chopra, Moby, and more. A New York Times bestseller and subject of hundreds of stories from The New Yorker to NPR and hailed as "American haiku," Deceptively simple and surprisingly addictive, Not Quite What I Was Planning is a thousand glimpses of humanity—six words at a time.