Old Mill Road Media, the publisher of BERKSHIRE Magazine, is thrilled to announce its 2nd Annual CREATE 4 FREEDOM Essay & Poetry Contest, co-sponsored by Arcadia Publishing and 1761 Arts.

FREEDOM OF SPEECH. FREEDOM OF WORSHIP. FREEDOM FROM WANT. FREEDOM FROM FEAR. These 4 Freedoms were outlined as essential human rights by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1941 and immortalized on canvas by Norman Rockwell (first published in The Saturday Evening Post in 1943).

This year’s CREATE 4 FREEDOM Essay & Poetry Contest focuses on a different president: Abraham Lincoln.

The Lincoln Memorial, which celebrates its centennial this year, has inspired millions of people as a symbol of "Freedom and Dignity.”

"Dignity" is not a commonly used word in 2022, but examples are all around us. In the form of an essay or poem, this year’s contest challenges today’s writers to discuss the meaning of the word "Dignity" by sharing their own personal response or life experience. To learn more, go to:

berkshiremag.com/create4freedom

This year’s Lincoln-themed contest is part of a larger collaboration of 19 organizations, organized by 1761 Arts and Old Mill Road Media.

Arcadia Publishing, Bennington Museum, Berkshire Athenaeum, Berkshire Historical Society at Herman Melville’s Arrowhead, Berkshire Museum, Chesterwood, the Clark Art Institute, Hancock Shaker Village, Hildene, The Lee Library, Norman Rockwell Museum, The Red Lion Inn, The Stockbridge Library, Ventfort Hall, West Stockbridge Public Library, Williams College, and Williams College Museum of Art.

All of these organizations are committed to celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Lincoln Memorial, designed and created by Daniel Chester French, whose summer estate and studio was Chesterwood in Stockbridge.