Posted
on May 25, 2016
On
this date in 1986, for fifteen minutes, people formed a 4,125-mile-long line that
crossed the continental United States. The human chain was created by
about 6.5 million people!!
In
actual fact, there were many breaks in the chain – wide rivers and
high mountains tend to do that to human chains – but the chain
linked major cities and then meandered back and forth within the
cities, to allow as many people as possible to participate. In some
places the line of people was six, seven, even ten people deep! If we
could have had hands across all the rugged, high-altitude, or
deep-water spots, that many people really could have spanned the
U.S., for sure. |
| The line meandered a bit on large scale (see above) as well as on a smaller scales (below). |
You
may ask what good it does to have people hold hands “from sea to
shining sea.” Aside from the reality of the cooperation it took to
complete the project, there was great symbolism in a human chain of
people of all ethnicities, genders, and ages working together to
complete the chain.
But
the event was also a fundraiser. Donations were collected in each
city from many of the participants reserving their places in the
line, and those donations were used to help feed, clothe, or house
local people in need. In all, Hands Across America raised $34
million.
Some
stars were recruited to stand in line. People as varied as actors
Edward James Olmos and Brooke Shields to musicians Yoko Ono and Harry
Belafonte were on hand in New York City; actor Robin Williams, Mickey
Mouse, Goofy, and C-3PO helped finish the chain in Long Beach,
California. In between were then-President Ronald Reagan, musician
Michael Jackson, magician David Copperfield, Chewbacca the Wookiee,
future president Bill Clinton, 50 Abraham Lincoln impersonators, and
54 Elvis Presley impersonators!
And
more stars. And of course way, way more “ordinary” extraordinary
people.
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