GETTYSBURG, PA - Featuring some of the best rangers, historians, and authors from across the country, the nine-week Winter Lecture Series returns to the Gettysburg National Military Park Museum and Visitor Center for 2024!
The Winter Lecture Series is held at 1:30 pm on weekends in the Gettysburg National Military Park Museum and Visitor Center from January 6 through March 3, 2024, unless otherwise noted.
Seating is available on a first come – first serve basis. Free tickets will be available the day of the program at the Gettysburg National Military Park Museum and Visitor Center. Schedule is subject to change.
All programs will be recorded by our friends at Addressing Gettysburg and will be posted to their YouTube Channel at youtube.com/@addressinggettysburg. No live stream will be available.
Saturday January 6 – “All This is Monument Enough” - Sickles and the New York Monument Commission (NYMC)
Ranger Matthew Atkinson, Gettysburg National Military Park
Daniel E. Sickles - General, Politician, Defendant, Ambassador, War Hero, and Commissioner of the NYMC. This program will explore the life of Dan Sickles in the post-war years, his struggle to maintain his reputation as the hero of Gettysburg, and his efforts to create and memorialize a battlefield.
Sunday January 7 – If These Things Could Talk: The Naval Edition
Ranger Karlton Smith, Gettysburg National Military Park
Ranger Karlton Smith will highlight some of the outstanding objects from the park's collection, with a focus on naval artifacts and the stories behind them.
Saturday January 13 – The Heavens Meet Earth at Gettysburg: Design of Sacred Spaces
Ranger Troy Harman, Gettysburg National Military Park
Join Ranger Troy Harman and examine how Gettysburg battlefield monuments and their landscaped spaces formed a sacred bridge between the battlefield and otherworldly places.
Sunday January 14 – If These Things Could Talk – Treasures from the Collection of Gettysburg National Military Park
Ranger Tom Holbrook, Gettysburg National Military Park
Take a journey back in time and explore the fascinating stories behind selected artifacts from the museum collection of Gettysburg National Military Park.
Saturday January 20 – The Great Crusade at 80: Eisenhower, Gettysburg, and the Legacy of D-Day
Ranger Daniel Vermilya, Eisenhower National Historic Site
Eighty years after Dwight D. Eisenhower’s “great crusade” in Europe, what is the enduring legacy of D-Day? For Eisenhower, the meaning of D-Day was indelibly linked with Gettysburg, a place where he spent much of his life. Eisenhower saw these two iconic battles as sharing similar lessons and legacies. From battlefield visits to reunions and even televised specials, Ike spent his post-WWII years reflecting on these lessons and legacies. Explore how Dwight Eisenhower—a general and a president—actively shaped and remembered the lessons of Gettysburg and D-Day.
Sunday January 21 - Wolverines at Gettysburg: Michigan Soldiers in the Battle of Gettysburg
Wayne Motts, Gettysburg Foundation
Did you know that nearly 4,000 Union soldiers from the state of Michigan fought at Gettysburg? Over 1,100 of these men were killed, wounded, or captured fighting on Pennsylvania soil in the Civil War’s greatest battle. Join historian and author Wayne Motts of the Gettysburg Foundation as he explores the stories and contributions of Michigan men at Gettysburg.
Saturday January 27 – Major General George Sykes: The Life and Service of Gettysburg's Least Known and Most Elusive Corps Commander
Ranger John Hoptak, Gettysburg National Military Park
Ranger and historian John Hoptak will profile the life and military record of Major General George Sykes, commander of the Fifth Army Corps at Gettysburg. Despite Sykes’ contributions at Gettysburg, he remains a relatively obscure general officer. This program will illuminate his service on and off the battlefields of the American Civil War.
Sunday January 28 - “If I ever get back to you I will live a different life;” The life and letters of the Iron Brigade’s John Pardington and his wife Sara
Dr. Peter Carmichael, Civil War Institute Gettysburg College
Join Dr. Peter Carmichael, the Fluhrer Professor of History and the Director of the Civil War Institute at Gettysburg College, for this fascinating examination of the correspondence between John Pardington, an enlisted man in the 24th Michigan Volunteer Infantry, and his wife. In this revealing correspondence, the experience of the common soldier on the front lines comes to life and reveals the important connections between the battlefield and the home front.
Saturday February 3 – "A Brilliant Victory": The Fight to Preserve the First Significant US Victory of the Civil War
Ranger Andrew Miller, Mill Springs Battlefield National Monument
Declaring armed neutrality to avoid allegiance to either side at the beginning of the Civil War, the Commonwealth of Kentucky was ironically teetering towards civil war itself. Pro-Confederate state troops began training while US-backed home guard units organized to oppose them. After Confederate forces invaded the state and voided that neutrality, both US and Confederate forces began to maneuver for controlling this vital border state.
On January 19, 1862, US troops encamped around Logan's Crossroads (present day Nancy, Kentucky) were surprised by a large Confederate force that was intent on their destruction. A combination of the misunderstanding of the disposition of the US forces in the area, miserable winter weather, and the emergence of George H. Thomas as a successful battlefield leader led to the rout of the Confederate forces out of eastern Kentucky. Speaking for President Abraham Lincoln, the new Secretary of War Edwin Stanton wired a message stating that the Battle of Mill Springs as "a brilliant victory." This first significant US triumph, in tandem with the victories at Forts Henry and Donelson, enabled the large scale forward movement of US military power deep into Tennessee, pushing the Confederacy on its heels at the beginning of 1862.
In 1992, the Mill Springs Battlefield Association began a large-scale effort to preserve these historic, hallowed grounds before the National Park Service took over management in 2019 as the 421st national park site.
Saturday February 3 – Special Walking Tour: African American Servicemembers Buried in Gettysburg National Cemetery
This special program will begin at 3:30 pm at the Taneytown Road Entrance of the Gettysburg National Cemetery.
Please dress appropriately for winter weather. In the event of inclement weather, this program may be postponed.
In all of America’s past conflicts, African Americans have served bravely and faithfully in the uniform of the United States despite being historically denied the most basic rights of citizenship from the very nation they served and fought—and in many cases died—to defend. In commemoration and observance of Black History Month, rangers from Eisenhower National Historic Site and Gettysburg National Military Park will lead a special walking tour/program in the Gettysburg National Cemetery highlighting the lesser-known and lesser-told stories of African American servicemembers therein laid to rest. Visit the graves and learn the stories of African Americans who served in the Civil War and who gave their last full measure of devotion during the Spanish-American War, World I, World War II, and Vietnam.
Sunday February 4 – Presidents and Gettysburg
Richard Goedkoop, Historian & Licensed Battlefield Guide, Gettysburg National Military Park
This program will highlight and illustrate Presidential speeches, visits, and letters at Gettysburg and on the battlefield after Abraham Lincoln's seminal address. Twenty-six Presidents have come to Gettysburg to comment or to reflect on its lasting legacy in American history. All took a memory with them and left their portion of history behind.
Saturday February 10 – Biology on the Battlefield: Natural Resource Management at a Historic and Cultural Park
Chris Davis, Biologist, Gettysburg National Military Park
Visitors come to Gettysburg National Military Park to experience the rich American history and cultural significance of one of the most important battlefields of the American Civil War. Part of the Gettysburg experience includes witnessing the diverse and ecologically complex mosaic of natural and agricultural systems that compose the backdrop of the park landscape - ecosystems that are actively managed by National Park Service staff and volunteers. Join park biologist Chris Davis for an overview of natural resources management at the park, and a discussion of the unique challenges and opportunities of performing this type of work in the context of a historic and cultural park.
Sunday February 11 – No Lecture (Superbowl Sunday)
Saturday February 17 – Abraham Lincoln in the Archives: “New” Sources, New Questions
Michelle Krowl, Library of Congress
In 1936, historian James G. Randall posed the question, “Has the Lincoln theme been exhausted?” Scholarship over the subsequent fourscore and seven years have answered the question with a resounding “no,” and interest in Abraham Lincoln continues to be robust. Michelle A. Krowl, curator of the Abraham Lincoln Papers at the Library of Congress, will discuss how newly available primary source materials and the proliferation of digital tools now allow different questions to be asked, and answered about the life and legacy of Abraham Lincoln, and the world in which he lived.
Sunday February 18 – Inclement Weather Date if Needed
Saturday February 24 – Harriet Tubman: In Her Own Words
Living Historian and Performer Janice Curtis Greene, Co-sponsored by Lincoln Cemetery
Janice Curtis Greene will mesmerize audiences with her portrayal of the life of Harriet Tubman historical program highlighting Harriet Tubman's journey to freedom. Learn of the tragedies and triumphs of this American hero from childhood through old age. Janice has received the Harriet Ross Tubman Lifetime Achievement Award, performed several times at the Harriet Tubman Visitor Center in Cambridge, MD and traveled nationwide with her fascinating portrayal of this famous Maryland hero.
Sunday February 25 – “I Dread the Thought of the Place” – A Conversation on the Craft of History with D. Scott Hartwig
Join historian and author D. Scott Hartwig for a wide ranging conversation on writing, the craft of history, and his new book, “I Dread the Thought of the Place” – The Battle of Antietam and the End of the Maryland Campaign. A book signing will follow the lecture.
Saturday March 3 – Camp Letterman: Life and Death at Gettysburg’s Largest Field Hospital
Ranger Christopher Gwinn, Gettysburg National Military Park
Between July 20 and November 19, 1863, over twenty thousand wounded Union and Confederate soldiers were treated at Gettysburg’s Camp Letterman, the largest field hospital established following the Battle of Gettysburg. Discover what life was like for the patients and medical staff, who suffered, toiled, and sacrificed at this now vanished location.
Sunday March 4 – Inclement Weather Date if Needed
Civil War Band Concert - Sun Dec 10 1pm
THE GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC (G.A.R.) CIVIL WAR MUSEUM and ARCHIVE
A Free In-person Open House Program
Sunday, December 10, 2023, at 1:00 p.m.
In-person at the Holmesburg United Methodist Church Hall
8112 Frankford Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19136
“Civil War Band Concert”
Becks' Philadelphia Brigade Band is a Civil War era brass band portraying the brass band of the 2nd Division, 2ndCorps, 2nd Brigade of the Union Army of the Potomac in 1863. The Band plays the music of the Victorian era for concerts, ceremonies, balls, parades and commemorations. The band is authentically uniformed, playing music of the period on instruments that correct for the time.
Today's program features tunes played during the Civil War era, including Christmas songs that date back to the 1850's, plus some vocal renditions from that period. Songs will include "Cheer Boys Cheer", "Battle Hymn of the Republic", "Shenandoah", "Battle Cry of Freedom", and "Dixie" (a personal favorite of President Lincoln.)
The music comes from manuscripts dating back to 1830, publications courtesy of the Library of Congress, and arrangements created for the band by our own members.
Free parking in the Church lot.
The entrance is on Craig Street, a one-way street running south. At Frankford Avenue and Stanwood Street turn west into Stanwood Street then left into Craig Street. Halfway down Craig Street is the entrance to the Church lot. Walk through the Church yard to get to the Museum yard. The Museum entrance is in the front of the Museum on Frankford Avenue.
The Museum, 8110 Frankford Avenue, will be open at 11:00 a.m. and will stay open during and after the presentation. Light refreshments will be provided.
As a lover of history, you know how critical it is to keep history alive, especially today! We very much appreciate your continued support for the GAR Civil War Museum & Archive
Acting Superintendent & Deputy Named at Gettysburg NMP and Eisenhower NHS
GETTYSBURG, PA – Kristina Heister, the Deputy Superintendent at Gettysburg National Military Park (NMP) and Eisenhower National Historic Site (NHS), will serve as Acting Superintendent, for a period of 120 days that began on November 5. Heister will step into this leadership role as former Superintendent Steve Sims begins his new assignment as Superintendent of Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Heister, a 31-year National Park Service (NPS) employee, is an experienced manager that previously served as the Superintendent of Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River and as Chief of Natural Resources for the NPS Northeast Region. She serves as a key leader on the park’s management team and provides oversight for all aspects of park operations. She also served as the Acting Superintendent of Gettysburg NMP and Eisenhower NHS in 2019.
Zach Bolitho will serve as Acting Deputy Superintendent for a period of 120 days that began on November 5. Zach has worked at Gettysburg NMP and Eisenhower NHS since 2011 as the Chief of Resources Stewardship and Planning where he coordinates and develops preservation programs and planning initiatives. He’s worked for the NPS for 24 years serving in the resource stewardship offices at several premiere cultural resource’s sites throughout the country. Bolitho started his career with the NPS as a Student Conservation Association intern at Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve in Idaho. He holds a B.S. in Conservation of Natural Resources and a M.S. in Environmental Biology. His civil service began as a Rural Training Instructor with the United States Peace Corps in the Solomon Islands, South Pacific.
Gettysburg National Military Park preserves, protects, and interprets for this and future generations the resources associated with the 1863 Battle of Gettysburg, during the American Civil War, the Soldiers' National Cemetery, and their commemorations. Learn more at www.nps.gov/gett.
Eisenhower National Historic Site preserves and interprets the home and farms of the Eisenhower family as a fitting and enduring memorial to the life, work, and times of General Dwight David Eisenhower, 34th president of the United States, and to the events of far-reaching importance that occurred on the property. Learn more at www.nps.gov/eise.
Dr. Timothy B. Smith Joins Abraham Lincoln Bookshop for "A House Divided" on 11-29
Timothy B. Smith
Iron Dice of Battle & Bayou Battles of Vicksburg
Airdate: 11/29/2023 @ 3:30 PM CST At Abraham Lincoln Bookshop
Timothy B. Smith joins Abraham Lincoln Bookshop on A House Divided to talk about his two latest books, The Iron Dice of Battle: Albert Sidney Johnston and the Civil War in the West, and Bayou Battles of Vicksburg: The Swamp and River Expeditions January 1-April 30 1863.
The first work to survey Albert Sidney Johnston’s life in detail in nearly sixty years, The Iron Dice of Battle builds on recent scholarship to provide a new and incisive assessment of Johnston’s life, his Confederate command, and the effect his death had on the course of the Civil War in the West.
In Bayou Battles for Vicksburg, the latest volume in his five-volume history of the Vicksburg Campaign of the US Civil War, Smith offers the first book-length examination of Ulysses S. Grant’s winter waterborne attempts to capture the Confederate stronghold of Vicksburg, Mississippi.
The show can be seen November 29th at 4:30 EST on the bookshop facebook page
Virginia Battlefield Protection Fund Grants Announced
In October, the Virginia Department of Historic Resources (DHR) awarded over 1.3 million dollars in grant funding through the Virginia Battlefield Protection Fund (VBPF) to 8 projects, protecting over 211 acres of battlefields across Virginia.
The American Battlefield Trust (ABT) received 7 awards, preserving a total of 209 acres across multiple battlefields. ABT received 2 grants totaling $507,350 to preserve 2 tracts at Chancellorsville. Additionally, they received $96,000 towards preserving 42.8 acres of the Cumberland Church Battlefield in Farmville. Other ABT awards include, $80,000 for an 11.37-acre parcel in Henrico County related to the Battles of Glendale, Malvern Hill, Deep Bottom I, and Deep Bottom II; $300,000 for 98.7 acres at Trevilian Station; $25,500 to preserve 8 acres at Dinwiddie Courthouse; and $133,750 for 3 acres at Ream’s Station.
The Central Virginia Battlefields Trust received a grant of $164,071 for the preservation of 2 acres on the Chancellorsville Battlefield.
“The awarding of these funds demonstrates Virginia’s sustained commitment to the preservation of significant historic battlefield properties,” said Julie V. Langan, Director of the Department of Historic Resources.
The Virginia General Assembly established the VBPF in 2010, authorizing the Department of Historic Resources to administer the grants to nonprofit organizations to protect, in perpetuity, battlefield lands associated with the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, and the Civil War.
DHR easements are held by the Virginia Board of Historic Resources (VBHR), which currently holds easements on approximately 15,900 acres of battlefields in Virginia. To learn more about the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, visit their website.
You can learn more about the American Battlefield Trust, and their projects at battlefields.org.
For more information about the Central Virginia Battlefields Trust, visit www.cvbt.org.
Gettysburg NMP Tells Story of Reconciliation
FROM theconversation.com
published November 17, 2023
On Nov. 19, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln traveled to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, to dedicate a cemetery at the site of the bloodiest battle of the Civil War. Four months before, about 50,000 soldiers had been killed, wounded or captured at the Battle of Gettysburg, later seen as a turning point in the war.
In his now-famous address, Lincoln described the site as “a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that (their) nation might live,” and called on “us the living” to finish their work. In the 160 years since, 1,328 monuments and memorials have been erected at Gettysburg National Military Park – including one for each of the 11 Confederate states.
Confederate memorials in the American South have attracted scrutiny for years. In October 2023, a statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee was melted down in Charlottesville, Virginia, six years after plans to remove it spurred the violent “Unite the Right” rally.
Gettysburg has received relatively little attention, yet it occupies a unique space in these debates. The battlefield is one of the most hallowed historic sites in the country, and, unlike other areas with memorials to Confederate soldiers, is located in the North. The military park’s history offers a window into the United States’ attitude toward postwar reconciliation – one often willing to overlook racial equality in the name of national and political unity.
The ‘Mecca of Reconciliation’
Today, Gettysburg draws nearly a million visitors each year. In addition to visiting the museum, visitors can drive or walk among the monuments and plaques that cover the landscape, dedicated to both Union and Confederate troops. There are markers that explain the events of the battle, as well as monuments dedicated to individual people, military units and states.
As with any war memorial, particularly for a civil war, Gettysburg commemorates an event whose survivors held dramatically different views of its meaning. In his book “Race and Reunion,” historian David Blight identifies three main narratives of the Civil War. One emphasizes the “nobility of the Confederate soldier” and cause, while another focuses on the emancipation of slaves. The third is the “reconciliationist” view, with the notion that “all in the war were brave and true,” regardless of which side they fought for.
We are cultural geographers who study commemorative landscapes, with a focus on issues of race and memory. In our view, Gettysburg is a prime example of that reconciliation narrative: a site that aims to reconcile the North and the South more than it addresses the racial motivations of the conflict. The park’s own administrative history refers to Gettysburg as an “American Mecca of Reconciliation.”
No praise, no blame
From 1864 until 1895, the battlefield was under the administration of the Gettysburg Battlefield Memorial Association, which placed markers along military units’ battle lines.
Starting in 1890, the U.S. War Department began actively preserving Civil War battlefields. Congress approved the creation of a commission of Union and Confederate veterans to mark the armies’ positions at Gettysburg with tablets that each bore “a brief historical legend, compiled without praise and without censure.” These policies were also included in the Regulations for the National Military Parks, published in 1915.
This guiding idea – “without praise and without censure” – was also evident at ceremonies for the battle’s 50th anniversary in 1913. Reconciliation was central in speeches and formal photographs, many featuring elderly veterans from both sides shaking hands.
Union and Confederate veterans pictured at 50th anniversary events in Gettysburg, Pa. Liljenquist Family Collection of Civil War Photographs/Library of Congress
At the time, there were no monuments to Confederate states; most markers, both for Union and Confederate troops, were for individual battle units.
State memorials
In 1912, the Virginia Gettysburg Commission had submitted plans for an equestrian statue of General Lee and other figures, with an inscription saying the state’s sons “fought for the faith of their fathers.” The chairman of the Gettysburg National Park Commission, however, had warned that such a statue would likely not be approved by the War Department because “inscriptions should be without ‘censure, praise or blame.‘” The chairman said that while “they fought for the faith of their fathers” might be true for Virginians, “it certainly opens the inscription to not a little adverse criticism.”
Eventually, the state commission agreed to inscribe simply, “Virginia to her sons at Gettysburg” – creating the first Confederate state monument.
But enforcement of the no praise, no blame policy was uneven.
Efforts to erect a monument for Mississippi, for example, began in the early 1960s. The state commission’s intended inscription read:
On this ground our brave sires fought for their righteous cause
Here, in glory, sleep those who gave to it their lives
To valor they gave new dimensions of courage
To duty, its noblest fulfillment
To posterity, the sacred heritage of honor.
The park superintendent pointed to two objections, however: first to the use of “righteous” and second to “here,” since Southern soldiers’ bodies were mostly relocated after the battle.
Mississippi Supreme Court Judge Thomas Brady, who collaborated on the inscription, wrote to the monument commission expressing his frustration over the objection to the “righteous cause” language. Even the “South’s most bitter critics … never questioned that the South felt that its cause was righteous,” he noted.
“The South has had the most to forgive in this matter and the South has forgiven,” Brady wrote. “Let us hope that the North has done likewise.”
In late 1970, a new superintendent was put in place at Gettysburg. Mississippi’s commission asked him to revisit the “righteous cause” wording – and expressed “genuine pleasure” that the new superintendent was a fellow Mississippian.
The monument was dedicated in 1973, with the “righteous cause” language included in its inscription.
The Mississippi state monument at Gettysburg today. Katrina Stack Finkelstein, CC BY-ND
‘Unfinished work’
From the start, the policies for monuments at Gettysburg called for a commemorative landscape that would recall the actions of those who fought and died on the battlefield. In reality, several monuments scattered over the landscape perpetuate the Lost Cause myth, which argues that the Confederate states’ chief goal was simply to protect the sanctity of state rights – whitewashing the atrocities of slavery and romanticizing the antebellum South.
In recent decades, however, the park has begun to do more to emphasize slavery in its historical exhibits and descriptions.
National Park management policy treats commemorative works as historic features reflecting “the knowledge, attitudes, and tastes of the persons who designed and placed them.” As a result, the monuments cannot be “altered, relocated, obscured, or removed, even when they are deemed inaccurate or incompatible with prevailing present-day values.”
The Gettysburg website notes that legislation and compliance with federal laws would be required to move many monuments.
When Lincoln traveled to Gettysburg, he called for Americans to dedicate themselves “to the unfinished work” of the Union dead, and to dedicate a portion of the battlefield to their memory. A century and a half later, however, the site also illustrates a messy postwar debate: the U.S.’s struggle to reconcile sharply opposed understandings of the Civil War.
Closing in on Victory at Cedar Creek
From Shenandoah Valley Battlefield…
Friends,
It’s 5:00am. A dense fog blankets the Shenandoah Valley as it slumbers ahead of a cool October day in 1864. Just south of Middletown, Union soldiers of the Army of West Virginia under Colonel Thoburn from Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania rest after having dug in above Cedar Creek. All is quiet in the crisp pre-dawn. Without warning, a bone-chilling Rebel yell pierces the fog as ghostly lines of Confederates come racing up to the trenches. They’d been stealthily marching since 1:00am, crossed Cedar Creek, and had their dander up. Among these men of Kershaw’s Divisions were Humphrey’s Mississippians, boys raised from the heart of their native state in 1861, men who had been in hard service in Virginia since First Manassas – veterans of Sharpsburg, Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, and even Chickamauga.
As these soldiers advanced from Cedar Creek towards Thorburn’s trenches, they crossed the Hite Farm. This ground has yet to be permanently saved… until now. An opportunity presents itself to us here at the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation to save nearly 74 acres that was part of the Hite Farm in 1864. This ground was marked by the intrepid drive of Humphrey’s Mississippians against the valiant defense of Wildes’ Brigade and Munk’s Battery. The blood of Mississippi permeates this ground, which ought to be preserved to ensure Mississippi’s story can be told to future generations.
That is why I am asking you today to support our noble mission and forever save these 74 acres of the Hite Farm at Cedar Creek. This is our chance to provide a more encompassing understanding of what happened at the greater Cedar Creek Battlefield – from its early start to chaotic finish. Doing so will also honor the tenacity of men from Kershaw’s Division and shine a light on a state whose boys were just as committed to the thick of the fight as their counterparts from Georgia and South Carolina. Our goal is $100,000 and if every one of our supporters made a gift of $100 today, we’d secure victory tomorrow.
Saving the land itself isn’t where this effort stops. Just as Humphrey’s Brigade pressed on and drove the remnants of Thoburn’s Division towards Middletown, our campaign has another opportunity to keep pressing and erect a monument to Mississippi near this property. Our team is in dialogue with artists to devise a tasteful marker to commemorate the advance of Humphrey’s Brigade and tell Mississippi’s story for generations to come.
Join the ranks as we boldly advance with steadfast determination to save this hallowed ground. Add your name to the annals of history as we fight to save it. Those of tomorrow will thank you for your commitment to the memory of those who have come before us. The future of our past depends on you.
Forward to Victory,
Franklin Van Valkenburg, Development Officer
Remembrance Day Events, 2023
Remembrance Day Events, 2023
Sat Nov 18th 1:00pm - 9:00pm
Join in the 2023 Remembrance Day events, to commemorate the dedication of the National Cemetery in November 1863.
1:00 p.m. The annual parade of Civil War living history groups is held in conjunction with the Gettysburg Address anniversary. The parade will line up on Middle Street and then proceed to Baltimore Street and then turn onto Steinwehr Avenue.
This event is sponsored by the Sons of Veterans Reserve, the Military Department of the Sons of the Union Veterans of the Civil War.
Numerous roads will be closed during this time.
5:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Luminaries and flags adorn the Civil War graves in the Soldiers' National Cemetery.
This solemn commemoration features a luminary candle on each of the 3,512 Civil War soldier’s graves. Names of the fallen soldiers will be read throughout the evening.
This event is sponsored by the Gettysburg Foundation.
Civil War relics discovered in South Carolina river during clean up
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/civil-war-cannonballs-swords-bullets-congaree-river-south-carolina/
Two 10-inch shells are displayed at a press conference celebrating the early completion of the Congaree River cleanup on Monday, Nov. 13, 2023 in Columbia, S.C. Hundreds of Civil War relics were unearthed during the $20 million project.
CBS NEWS NOVEMBER 14, 2023 / 6:42 AM EST / CBS/AP
Hundreds of Civil War relics were unearthed during the cleanup of a South Carolina river where Union troops dumped Confederate military equipment to deliver a demoralizing blow for rebel forces in the birthplace of the secessionist movement.
The artifacts were discovered while crews removed tar-like material from the Congaree River and bring new tangible evidence of Union Gen. William T. Sherman's ruthless Southern campaign toward the end of the Civil War. The remains are expected to find a safer home at the South Carolina Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum in the state capital of Columbia.
Historical finds include bullets, cannonballs and even swords, CBS affiliate WLTX reports.
Also discovered was a wheel experts believe belonged to a wagon that blew up during the two days of supply dumps. The odds of finding the wagon wheel "are crazy," according to Sean Norris.
"It's an interesting story to tell," said Norris, the archaeological program manager at an environmental consulting firm called TRC. "It's a good one - that we were able to take a real piece of it rather than just the written record showing this is what happened."
One unexploded munition got "demilitarized" at Shaw Air Force Base. Norris said the remaining artifacts won't be displayed for a couple more years. Corroded metal relics must undergo an electrochemical process for their conservation, and they'll also need measurement and identification.
Dominion Energy crews have been working to rid the riverbed of toxic tar first discovered in 2010, at times even operating armor-plated excavators as a safeguard against potential explosives. State and local officials gathered Monday to celebrate early completion of the $20 million project.
"We removed an additional two and half tons of other debris out of the river. You get focused on coal tar and yes we took care of the coal tar but you also had other trash," Keller Kissam, Dominion Energy President said, according to WLTX.
South Carolina Republican Gov. Henry McMaster said this preservation is necessary for current generations to learn from history.
"All those things are lost on us today. They seem like just stories from the past," McMaster said. "But when we read about those, and when we see artifacts, and see things that touched people's hands, it brings us right back to how fortunate we are in this state and in this country to be where we are."
Previously found war relics
Relics from the Civil War have been discovered in South Carolina before. In 2016, Hurricane Matthew unearthed Civil War cannonballs from the sand on Folly Beach. A similar discovery was made by a couple on the same beach three years later after Hurricane Dorian.
Last year, in neighboring Georgia, 19 cannons were found in "amazing condition" in the Savannah River. Experts said the cannons likely came from British ships scuttled to the river bottom during the American Revolution.
In 2015, wreckage of the Confederate warship CSS Georgia was raised to the surface of the Savannah River. The vessel was scuttled by its own crew to prevent Gen. Sherman from capturing the massive gunship when his Union troops took Savannah in December 1864.
Click here to read the origianl article and see additional images
Special Guests for Dedication Day Events in Gettysburg Sunday, Nov 19.
Susan Eisenhower, J’Nai Bridges, Graham Sibley, Harold Holzer, and Doris Kearns Goodwin to appear at Dedication Day Events in Gettysburg Sunday, Nov 19.
November 8, 2023 by Community Contributors
UPDATE ALERT: CHANGE OF DEDICATION DAY CEREMONY VENUE FROM THE GETTYSBURG NATIONAL CEMETERY TO GETTYSBURG COLLEGE’S MAJESTIC THEATER, 25 Carlisle Street, Gettysburg, PA.
The Lincoln Fellowship of Pennsylvania is honored to invite the public to the Majestic Theater on November 19th, 2023 for a special Dedication Day ceremony commemorating the 60th anniversary of the historic 1963 ceremony that marked the centennial of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. The venue change is due to a potential U. S. government shutdown. The Majestic Theater is located at 25 Carlisle St., Gettysburg; doors will open to the public at 9:30 a.m. The ceremony is free, however seats are limited. NO FIREARMS OR WEAPONS OF ANY KIND, REPLICA OR NOT, WILL BE ALLOWED IN THE THEATER.
This year’s keynote speaker is the distinguished Susan Eisenhower, granddaughter of General Dwight D. Eisenhower. Emmy®-nominated actor, Graham Sibley, star of the History Channel’s series Abraham Lincoln, will present the Gettysburg Address. Two-time Grammy® Award-winning American opera singer, J’Nai Bridges will deliver a special performance honoring opera singer and civil rights pioneer, Marian Anderson. Renowned Lincoln scholars, Doris Kearns Goodwin and Harold Holzer, also will be joining us.
Ms. Eisenhower commented, “I am humbled to help commemorate the 160th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s dedication of the National Cemetery and his immortal Gettysburg Address. This magnificent speech speaks to us through the ages and articulates, like none other, the enduring values of this great nation.” Ms. Eisenhower is well known for her work as a policy analyst, much of which is focused on national security, and related strategic issues. She has brought this work to light in her writing as an essayist, opinion writer, biographer, and editor. She has authored hundreds of editorials for newspapers including The Washington Post, The New York Times, and the Los Angeles Times. Her articles also have appeared in the National Academy of Sciences’ Issues in Science and Technology and the Naval Institute’s Proceedings. Her most recent book has received critical acclaim nationally and internationally: How Ike Led: The Principles Behind Eisenhower’s Biggest Decisions. Eisenhower has provided analysis for CNN International, MSNBC, The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer, FOX News, CBS Sunday Morning in an interview with Rita Braver, the BBC, and all three major network morning programs. Eisenhower will also be featured at the Lincoln Fellowship’s Annual Meeting and Luncheon at the Wyndham Hotel after the ceremony and will be available for book signing at the luncheon.
Emmy®-nominated actor Graham Sibley will be presenting the Gettysburg Address. Sibley has appeared in many groundbreaking television series, most notably embodying Abraham Lincoln in Doris Kearns Goodwin’s definitive biography mini-series for History Channel/A&E, which was nominated for a Critics Choice Real TV Award for Best Limited Series and won the 2023 BANFF World Media Award for Best Historical Biography.
J’Nai Bridges will deliver a special performance honoring opera singer and civil rights pioneer, Marian Anderson, who performed here in 1963 at the invitation of General Eisenhower. Bridges known for her “rich, dark, exciting sound” (Opera News) is quickly becoming one of the most sought-after talents of her generation. She also will be performing at the Lincoln Fellowship’s Annual Meeting and Luncheon at the Wyndham Hotel after the ceremony.
Preeminent Lincoln scholar Harold Holzer, and presidential historian and Pulitzer-prize winning author Doris Kearns Goodwin, will be making a few appropriate remarks.
Wendy Allen, president of the Lincoln Fellowship of Pennsylvania, expressed the Fellowship’s enthusiasm for the participation of so many special guests who truly honor the centennial Dedication Day ceremony of 1963.
New to the event this year participants will ride in a horse-drawn carriage, retracing the route (in reverse) President Abraham Lincoln took to deliver the historic Gettysburg Address. From near the National Cemetery, they will travel north on Baltimore Street and will be dropped off at the Majestic Theater.
The Lincoln Fellowship of Pennsylvania has hosted ceremonies on Dedication Day since 1938. Over the years, many influential and noteworthy national figures, including Harry S. Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Marian Anderson, Tom Ridge, John Hope Franklin, Shelby Foote, Carl Sandburg, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Stephan Lang, Sandra Day O’Connor, LeVar Burton, Ken Burns, Stephen Spielberg, and others have appeared at the ceremony to help new generations of Americans remember Lincoln’s words and to rededicate ourselves to the ideals at the core of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address.
This year, the Fellowship will partner once again with Gettysburg College, Gettysburg National Military Park and Eisenhower National Historic Site, and the Gettysburg Foundation. The program also features a U.S. Naturalization and Citizenship ceremony, which will allow us the special opportunity to celebrate together, as Americans, while we welcome a new group of citizens.
Parking for the event can be found in Race Horse Alley Parking Garage immediately behind the theater, and limited street parking at parking meters on surrounding streets. Please be prepared to wait outdoors prior to entrance to the theater. For more information, visit www.lincolnfellowship.org.