History Commons^™

Finding The Good: An Emotional Anniversary, John M. Rudy

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

I am an exacting judge of interpretive product. I realize this. My boss and I have had a few discussions about how both of our standards, sometimes, might be just a bit too high.

I still am not convinced that pure and utter excellence is not too much to ask for on every interpretive program. All too often, though, I don't find it.

When I do see amazing moments, it thrills me. I get outrageously excited. Through my entire experience as a visitor at the sesquicentennial celebration at Gettysburg, two programs stand out as verging on that sort of gleaming …

There Is Still Time: Contingency And History, John M. Rudy

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

"...and it's all in the balance, it hasn't happened yet, it hasn't even begun yet, it not only hasn't begun yet but there is still time for it not to begin against that position and those circumstances which made more men than Garnett and Kemper and Armistead and Wilcox look grave..."

William Faulkner's Intruder in the Dust has that beautifully evocative passage that anyone worth their salt contemplating a Pickett's Charge program has considered including in their ebb and flow. Faulkner was a master of language, and his passage about, "every Southern boy fourteen years old," is a particularly artful. …

Inside The Resource: Interpreting Is Pointing At Things, John M. Rudy

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

We preserve the places of the past for a very specific reason: they are places. They are physical manifestations of the past, either landscapes where that past was played out or the remnants of the people who made that past happen.

That was clear to me last week as I watched David Fox, one of Harpers Ferry's premier interpreters, twiddle a shaving mirror in the sunlight and shine a twinkling beam on the gravestone of Rev. Alexander Morrell in the cemetery at the end of Fillmore Street. [excerpt]

The Semester Ends, The Semester Begins, John M. Rudy

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

It's finals week at Gettysburg College, but in another time, it was just the beginning of the oddest session of college just over 100 students would ever experience. Some would join the 26th PEMR, some would run home from the oncoming rebel hordes, and others would remain in Gettysburg, sitting in the cross-hairs of the war as the slowly rested on Adams County. [excerpt]

Virtual Sesquicentennial: #Invasion63 Goes Live, John M. Rudy

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

I teased this project a short while ago, and now that May has arrived history has begun coming back to life. Over the next three months, the men and women who walked Gettysburg's streets and crossed the Pennsylvania College campus will reenact their lives in the last few moments before Gettysburg changed irrevocably. As May creeps along, more characters will rise from the grave and begin reliving the past. [excerpt]

Pennsylvania At Chancellorsville, But Headed Back Home, John M. Rudy

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

With the anniversary of the battles around Fredericksburg this week, the Civil War world's eyes seem to be turned toward Chancellorsville and the battles there. Almost as a reflex, my mind has gone there too. I've been thinking about Simon Stein Wolf, the Gettysburgian who faced death at Chancellorsville only to find it terribly displayed in the days after. So today another excerpt from my manuscript, to start re-conceptualizing Chancellorsville through the eyes of a Pennsylvania College dropout. [excerpt]

Gettysburg's Other Unknown Soldier, John M. Rudy

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

We all know the name Amos Humiston. We know he was found on the first day's field. We know he clutched the image of his three children, an unknown soldier until his wife Philinda Humiston saw her children peering back at her from a copy of that picture. We know his drama and the agony of Philinda, we know the heartbreak and horror.

But who's buried next to him? [excerpt]

On The Battleground At Gettysburg: A Journey To Remember, John M. Rudy

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

I was very pleased to be one of the two speakers at Sunday night's inaugural "Journey to Remember" event sponsored by Gettysburg College. A group of students and community members trekked up the hill from the campus, resting on Oak Hill at the base of the Eternal Light Peace Memorial to hear myself and Janet Riggs, the college's President and a fellow alum. The student organizers asked me to place that place into historical context. [excerpt]

Tool Of Revolution, Piece Of The True Cross, John M. Rudy

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

One of my former students, brilliant researcher and Gettysburg College Senior Lauren Roedner has been pulling together an exhibit from the private collection of Angelo Scarlato, displayed in the display cases in Gettysburg College's Special Collections. The exhibit,Slaves, Soldiers, Citizens: African American Artifacts of the Civil War Era opens officially on Monday. But I was able to sneak a quick peak on Wednesday night of the exhibit-in-progress. [excerpt]

Two Kosciuszkos: Fighting For Liberty, John M. Rudy

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

I got in trouble down in the District of Columbia before Christmas. I made the mistake of asking friend and fellow blogger Aaron Urbanski why I should care who Thaddeus Kosciuszko was. He went mildly ballistic. Aaron has a soft spot in his heart for the old Polish general, partially because his last name is Urbanski. I can't begrudge him that.

So the name "Kosciuszko" has been rattling violently around in my head since December. Recently it broke free. And it was because of the Civil War, Gettysburg and a Pennsylvanian general that I found out why Thaddeus Kosciuszko might …

Meaningless Lists Of Soldiers: Hidden In Plain Sight, John M. Rudy

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

This week I had the chance to visit National Archives 1 to do some research for work into the history of the Federal Armory at Harpers Ferry, and particularly the building I work in. Mather Training Center waswas the Superintendent's House before the War came and upended the entire town. It was nice to get back into the stacks downtown and dig through musty boxes of (in this case) Office of the Chief of Ordinance records.

It brought to mind the last time that I got the chance to root around in the trove that is the Nation's repository down …