If any registered contestants withdraw or do not show up at the contest, those on the waitlist will be invited to compete, in the order they signed up, up to a maximum of 15 contestants.

Judges to include best-selling author Susan Jacoby

An oratory contest to honor Robert G. Ingersoll, a famous 19th century speaker known as The Great Agnostic, is seeking up to 15 people to compete for prizes by delivering a brief excerpt from Ingersoll’s works.

The panel of judges for this year’s contest, the third of its kind, will include Susan Jacoby, author of The Great Agnostic: Robert Ingersoll and American Freethought, released earlier this year.

About Robert Ingersoll
Ingersoll was an advocate for racial equality, birth control, women’s rights, Darwin’s theory of evolution, Shakespeare, free speech, and voting rights for Washington, D.C. His most popular speeches were openly critical of religion and the Bible while advocating a humanistic philosophy.

He delivered more than 1,200 speeches to packed houses across the country in the late 1800s, all of them documented in a 12-volume set of his works. After he moved his family to Washington in 1878, he lived, worked and spoke here for seven years. He was a Civil War veteran and a very successful lawyer and political speaker. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Yet he has been neglected and largely forgotten by history. Organizers created this contest to revive his message.

Contest Details
The contest will take place at noon on Sunday, June 30, 2013, in Dupont Circle, in the heart of Washington.

In case of rain, the event will be held nearby at James Hoban’s Irish Restaurant and Bar, One Dupont Circle NW.

Registration
Registration deadline is June 15. Hurry! The event is limited to 15 contestants. See the rules for competitors. Register here.

Prizes
First Place: $250. Second Place: $150. Third Place: $100. Fourth Place: $50. Other items may also be awarded. All contestants will receive a certificate.

Audience
The free event is open to the public. All are invited to bring a blanket or chair and applaud their favorite selection or speaker.

Post-contest gathering
In the spirit of Ingersoll’s love of socializing, after the contest all are welcome to join together at James Hoban’s Irish Restaurant and Bar, One Dupont Circle NW. Susan Jacoby will be on hand to sign copies of her book, The Great Agnostic.

More information
Questions? Send an e-mail to: Ingersoll@wash.org or call and leave a message at 202-657-6346. Photos and videos of the two previous contests can be found on this website.

Sponsors
Washington Area Secular Humanists
Center for Inquiry DC
American Humanist Association
Robert Green Ingersoll Birthplace Museum,a project of the Council for Secular Humanism.

http://www.youtube.com/user/centerforinquiry#p/u

Search for :  2010 Ingersoll

There are eleven videos in all.  Below is a list and link to each of them.

It was a long time getting them up but we thank CFI for putting them on their channel for all to see. 

It was a GREAT contest !  Thanks to all the sponsors, contestants, and volunteers who put it together.

Steven LOWE

Washington, DC

202 636 5121

Ingersoll Oratory Contest 2010 – Intro Part 1 (1/11)

Ingersoll Oratory Contest 2010 – Intro Part 2 (2/11)

Ingersoll Oratory Contest 2010 – Eva Ingersoll (3/11)

Ingersoll Oratory Contest 2010 – Kevin Slaughter (4/11)

Ingersoll Oratory Contest 2010 – Donald B. Ardell (5/11)

Ingersoll Oratory Contest 2010 – Tony Toledo (6/11)

Ingersoll Oratory Contest 2010 – Wendy Shore (7/11)

Ingersoll Oratory Contest 2010 – Craig Howell (8/11)

Ingersoll Oratory Contest 2010 – Steven E. Jones (9/11)

Ingersoll Oratory Contest 2010 – Joseph Ben-David (10/11)

Ingersoll Oratory Contest 2010 – Certificate Awards (11/11)

Noon on Sunday, October 24, 2010

Dupont Circle, Washington, DC

 Robert G. Ingersoll, known as The Great Agnostic, was a famous 19^th century orator and outspoken critic of religion.  He was an advocate for racial equality, birth control, women’s rights, Darwin’s theory of evolution, Shakespeare, free speech, and voting rights for Washington, DC. 

 He delivered over 1,200 speeches to packed houses across the country in the late 1800s, all of them documented in a 12-volume set of his works.  After he moved his family to Washington, DC, in 1878, he lived, worked and spoke here for seven years.  He was a Civil War veteran and a very successful lawyer and political speaker.  He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. 

Yet he has been neglected and largely forgotten by history.  To revive his message and popularity we are announcing:

 The Second Annual Robert G. Ingersoll Oratory Contest

 Up to 15 contestants will each deliver a brief excerpt from Robert G. Ingersoll’s works.  A panel of judges will evaluate and award prizes for the best performance.  

 Sign up to be a contestant, or just come to hear the outrageous blasphemy and rhetoric of this undeservedly forgotten American orator. 

Bring your blanket or chair and applaud your favorite selection or speaker.  No chairs will be provided.  

Noon on Sunday, October 24, 2010 in Dupont Circle, Washington, DC

 In case of rain, the contest will still be held nearby at :

James Hoban’s Irish Restaurant & Bar,      One Dupont Circle, NW.    tel.: 202-223-8440.

 REGISTRATION

Registration deadline is October 17, 2010. Contestants pay a fee of $20.

Hurry!  The contest is limited to 15 contestants.

For information on how to register, see the contest Web site at ingersollcontest.wordpress.com  

Questions?  Send an e-mail to: Ingersoll@wash.org

or call and leave a message at 202-657-6346

 PRIZES

• First Place:       $150   
• Second Place:  $100
• Third Place:       $75
• Fourth Place:     $50

+  in addition to cash, other items may also be awarded. All contestants will receive a certificate.

 This free public event is sponsored by:

•  Washington Area Secular Humanists
• Center for Inquiry DC
• American Humanist Association
• Robert Green Ingersoll Birthplace Museum, a project of the Council for Secular Humanism

 Ingersoll’s speeches may be found, among other places, at:

•  Online:    http://www.infidels.org/library/historical/robert_ingersoll/
• Online (Vols. 1 & 2):    http://sacred-texts.com/aor/ing/index.htm
• On CD-ROM:  $24.95  from:   http://www.bankofwisdom.com/html/ingersoll.html
• From Amazon.com:  http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_ys?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Robert+G.+Ingersoll
• At your local library

Photos and videos of last year’s contest can be seen at the Contest web site.

Some Quotations of Ingersoll:

 The man who does not do his own thinking is a slave, and is a traitor to himself and to his fellow-men.
– Robert Green Ingersoll, “The Liberty of Man, Woman and Child“

 The liberty of man is not safe in the hands of any church.  Wherever the Bible and sword are in partnership, man is a slave.

– Robert Green Ingersoll, Some Mistakes of Moses,

 Contest Web site:

ingersollcontest.wordpress.com

There were two videographers so there are two versions or sets of videos.

 One is by Michael McCamman of AHA who edited his video into a one hour subset of the contest and includes the introduction, the five winners and four other contestants only:

Time mark

on video:

• 0.00        Introduction: Steve Lowe, Mike McCamman, Melody Hensley
• 1:40        Lynne Williamson – 4^th place tie winner
• 11:10     Saul Penn – 4^th place tie winner
• 19:00     Stuart Jordan – 3^rd place winner
• 24:10     Jamila Bey – 2^nd place winner
• 28:30     James Tinsley 1^st place winner
• 35:00     Kevin Slaughter
• 43:00     Vincent Lyon
• 51:30     Albert Rogers
• 58:10     Donald Wharton

It can be found at the AHA channel on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/user/HumanistVision#p/a/u/1/sjgCZkcY730

The other, a complete set by Gregory  Walsh, can be   found at the Center for Inquiry Channel on YouTube and consists of the complete Contest in High Definition and broken into 16 separate parts:

•  Introduction  Part 1  http://www.youtube.com/user/centerforinquiry#p/u/15/vj5egFp3xCY
• All 14 contestants ( winners first followed by others)  Parts 2 – 15
• Closing and awards  Part 16

 http://www.youtube.com/user/centerforinquiry#g/u

This entire set is available at: 

The Ingersoll Oratory Contest is now on the video archives on the CFI-DC site – http://www.centerforinquiry.net/dc/local_resources/category/video_archives

 Enjoy watching and rating these videos.  It was a wonderful day in Dupont Circle! 

 It will now live forever thanks to our two volunteer videographers, Gregory Walsh and Michael McCamman.  BRAVO!