Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Growing Up In The Trenches: Fritz Draper Hurd And The Great War, S. Marianne Johnson

Adams County History

On February 18, 1919, Second Lieutenant Fritz Draper Hurd supervised recreational activities for the men of the 103rd Field Artillery. The men breathed easy; they tossed a football and even engaged in a little gallows humor with a “gas mask race,” at last finding a use for the once fearsome yet no longer needed device. The Great War was over, and the men of the 103rd Field Artillery were content to lob footballs instead of shells as they awaited their discharge papers. [excerpt]

Fear In Illinois: A Father's Grief, John M. Rudy

Interpreting the Civil War: Connecting the Civil War to the American Public

Like a prose poem, the passage leaped off of the page of the Lutheran and Missionary as I scanned the newspaper's columns. Sitting in the reading room of the Abdel Ross Wentz Library at the Lutheran Theological Seminary, my heart raced. It's not often that you find new words penned by someone you've been studying for years. [excerpt]

An 1858 Patent Office Report: The Joy Of Being Wrong, John M. Rudy

Interpreting the Civil War: Connecting the Civil War to the American Public

I love being wrong. I think every historian should love that feeling. Finding that one small piece of evidence that puts a crack in your perception of the past and makes you restructure your view of the flow of history is a joy.

I had one of those moments a few weeks ago at Adams County Historical Society, digging through the vertical files for random things. I go digging every week or so, simply immersing myself in the raw material of the past and seeing what floats to the surface. [excerpt]

College Kids With Guns: Hidden In Plain Sight, John M. Rudy

Interpreting the Civil War: Connecting the Civil War to the American Public

Sunday morning found me out in the field with a stalwart group of Gettysburg devotees: the Gettysburg Discussion Group's annual spring Muster. When the coordinator of this year's Muster put out the call for something a bit different, perhaps something in town for Sunday, my ears perked up. I've been looking for groups to test out the nuggets of the College's Civil War story on and the GDG seemed like the perfect group of guinea pigs. [excerpt]

Haupt-Enstance: Whatever Became Of Herman?, John M. Rudy

Interpreting the Civil War: Connecting the Civil War to the American Public

Tom Lehrer, on his 1965 album That Was The Year That Was, sang a send-up of then-Vice President Hubert Humphrey with his, "Whatever Became of Hubert." The song's been going through my head this past week or so, but with the name "Herman" taking the place of LBJ's second-in-command. [excerpt]

Once Upon A Time In Gettysburg: Sometimes It Works, John M. Rudy

Interpreting the Civil War: Connecting the Civil War to the American Public

Monday night, I took my class out on the 'battlefield.' I know some of them are taking my class because, "it's Gettysburg College and I should take a Civil War class before I leave." I couldn't resist the siren call to show them where they have lived for four years and transform the meanings of that ground for them. So we went on a campus tour, the battlefield they walk everyday when they go to class or dinner or out to party on a Friday night. [excerpt]

Confederates In The Dorm: Hidden In Plain Sight, John M. Rudy

Interpreting the Civil War: Connecting the Civil War to the American Public

You can imagine the terror in the young 21-year-old's eyes as he realized who was charging down the Cashtown Pike into Gettysburg on the 26th of June. You can feel the chill that might have run down his spine as he realized that the rebel army he had deserted, the one he had escaped by running to the Federal lines, was crashing down upon him again. And the deserter's fate during this war was simple: execution. [excerpt]

Last Prisoners At Gettysburg: A Gift For Kind Hearts, John M. Rudy

Interpreting the Civil War: Connecting the Civil War to the American Public

I have been digging quite heavily into the history of Pennsylvania (Gettysburg) College and the American Civil War these past few months, trying to fill a gaping hole in the scholarship not only of the college but of the local civilian story in the war. This has meant long Thursday nights at Adams County Historical Society culling through every random mention of the college and the complex relationship which the students and faculty had with both the citizens of the borough and the armies which invaded it. It has also meant that I've had the opportunity to revisit Gettysburg College's …

Ms-124: Samuel Simon Schmucker Bicentennial Celebration 1999, G. Ronald Couchman

All Finding Aids

The official papers of the Schmucker Bicentennial Committee reside in the Archives at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg. This collection at the college contains the material retained by Gettysburg College representatives to the committee and internal college documents relating to the program events compiled by the Public Relations Office and the Office of Planned Giving. Of special interest is a review of a research effort conducted within the Office of College Relations to identify the descendants of Samuel Schmucker in order to invite them to the college for the birthday event. This research resulted in the creation of a …

Original Pennsylvania College Building, Robert S. Kellert

Hidden in Plain Sight Projects

At the corner of Washington and High Streets in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania stands a modest old house—an anachronism that somehow seems so fitting in a town of such rich history. In the foreground lies a fairly inconspicuous plaque with condensed text—easy to miss on a leisurely car ride past the antiquated structure. Casually passing by, residents and tourists alike might not give the house a second thought or reflect on its origins. Yet, were they to merely glance over the building‘s historic plaque, they would discover a building whose significance can hardly be overstated. This was the site of the original …

Ms-048: World War I Service Questionnaires, Keith R. Swaney

All Finding Aids

After the conclusion of the First World War, two distinct entities at Pennsylvania (Gettysburg) College—Professor S. N. Hagen and the Phi Delta Theta fraternity— endeavored to document and commemorate the experiences of the college’s graduates in the First World War.

The first section contains the Phi Delta Theta questionnaires, which the fraternity sent to its alumni to record their participation in the field or on the home front. As the questionnaires note, the historian of the Pennsylvania College chapter wished to use this information in a publication to be entitled the “Karux.”

The second section contains questionnaires that Hagen, a …