History Commons^™

Halfway Out Of The Dark: Christmas 1863, John M. Rudy

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

A note received any day letting you know a son is gravely wounded is horrible. Receiving it on the first day of December is particularly horrible. In this month of gathering together, hearing your son is suffering can't be cheering. [excerpt]

Tarnish'd With Ashes And Soot: A Classic Poem’S Dank Corners, John M. Rudy

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

The legend is striking: Clement Clarke Moore, sitting with his children on a Christmas Eve in 1822, reading them a poem he has scrawled out that day, inspired by a winter shopping trip. Little Charity and Mary were likely entranced at six and three. Clement, a one-year-old, and Emily, a newborn, likely weren’t as enrapt by the lilting rhymes.

The poem for Moore’s children found new life a year later, published in a Troy, New York newspaper. And since then, A Visit From Saint Nicholas has been embedded in our culture. [excerpt]

And With The Sound The Carols Drowned: Captives In Bleak December, John M. Rudy

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

Christmas was coming, and a knot of officers of the 87th Pennsylvania suddenly found their December a bit brighter. Nine boxes had been sent along to the officers, packed to the brim with, "all kinds of necessaries and delicacies, such as will be conducive to our comfort and health while in our present condition." And the soldiers were pleased.

Any soldier would be pleased to have a pair of warm socks, a stack of stationary or a can of preserved vegetables from home. But these men were doubly pleased.

The letter of gratitude they wrote to the Gettysburg Compiler was …

An Evening With David Blight, S. Marianne Johnson

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

Monday evening, November 18, students from Gettysburg College got to sit down and discuss memory with Dr. David Blight from Yale University, author of the renowned work Race and Reunion. The session was conducted as an informal panel with Dr. Blight and Gettysburg College’s own Dr. Isherwood and Dr. Jordan. Dr. Blight spoke about beginning his work when memory studies was not an official field and stumbling his way headlong into working with the memory of the American Civil War. When discussing whether or not memory studies were a fad that would pass away, Blight reassured the audience that people …

Richard D. Dunphy: To Him, A War Goes On, Kevin P. Lavery

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

Although I have so far treated Richard Dunphy as a man who achieved heroism through valor and suffered greatly for it, there is another side to his character that I have not yet explored. In 1899, his wife, Catherine, accused Richard of being too irresponsible to handle his own pension money. Furthermore, she accused him of abusing his family and failing to pay his bills. To resolve this conflict, the Bureau of Pensions sent Special Examiner E. G. Hursh to Vallejo to investigate. He collected about a dozen depositions in order to evaluate the validity of these claims. Richard Dunphy …

Obsessive Digging In Carolina Sand And Baltimore Asphalt, John M. Rudy

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

My parents moved to Wilmington, North Carolina a couple years ago. I have to admit, I am fascinated when I visit the South, for the sheer fact that it is such a vastly different environment than I'm used to. For one thing, the war happened there. For another, the war got very complex and interesting there. [excerpt]

Buckeye Blood Waters The Longleaf Pines, John M. Rudy

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

In the woods south of Wilmington, men in blue uniforms moved forward in a loose skirmish line. They were probing, trying to find General Hoke's last line of defense. Brig. General Charles Paine sent the men forward to develop the enemy. But in the pine thicket ahead, in a thin, ragged line, the bedraggled rebel troops likely had more to fear than bullets as those skirmishers probed and prodded on a February day in 1865. [excerpt]

Another Real Gettysburg Address, 50 Years On, John M. Rudy

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

The following address, “100 Years After Lincoln's Gettysburg Address” by E. Washington Rhodes, editor-publisher of the Philadelphia Tribune and president of the National Newspaper Publishers Association, was delivered at exercises in the Gettysburg National Cemetery Tuesday afternoon:

“I consider it a great privilege to have been invited as a representative of the American Negro people to participate in an occasion of such national, historic importance, at this time of racial tension and unrest. This, then, is an historic moment of high honor and high drama, which will be forever cherished by the American Negro people, as they march with heads …

Ambivalent About Tragedy: David Blight On Bruce Catton, Brianna E. Kirk

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

November 19, 2013, marked a momentous day in the small Pennsylvania town of Gettysburg – the 150th anniversary of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. The 272 worded speech given four months after the Battle of Gettysburg assigned meaning to the intense fighting and death that had besieged the nation for two years. With the war’s end nowhere in sight, Lincoln directed the American people on how to fathom the tragedy that surrounded them, both figuratively and literally, at the dedication of the National Cemetery in 1863. 150 years after this speech, thousands gathered to celebrate and commemorate those few appropriate remarks Lincoln …

Scalia: A Real Gettysburg Address, John M. Rudy

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

USCIS Director Alejandro Mayorkas, as he introduced the most potent speaker in Tuesday morning's ceremonies at Gettysburg, called it a, "special day," both in the lives of the handful of men and women raising their hands to take the oath of allegiance and become American citizens, but also, "in the life of our country." [excerpt]

Interpretation Is Evolution: Whose History?, John M. Rudy

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

When I try to explain to non-history people what my degree means, I used to hit wall after all. It was so hard explaining exactly what, "Applied History," really means. People understand, "History," but the idea of public history has a certain brand of special sauce added on top.

I used to say something akin to, "doing Park Ranger things," though that never really worked. When I had a group on an historical landscape, I'd often just say, "Public History is this."

It doesn't work. Those definitions aren't clear. [excerpt]

It's Ok To Giggle: Colbert's Gettysburg Address, John M. Rudy

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

There hasn't been all that much righteous indignation from the lands of historians and the historically inclined public. I'd wager they just haven't noticed. I was a little surprised, to be honest. As soon as I hit play on Stephen Colbert's rendition of the Gettysburg Address, part of Ken Burns' Learn the Address marketing initiative for his upcoming documentary, I figured the flame war was inevitable. [excerpt]

“Consternation Was Depicted On All Their Countenances”: Gettysburg’S African American Community And Confederate Invasion, Brian D. Johnson

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

On June 15, 1863, Albert Jenkins’s Confederate cavalry brigade became the first of Lee’s men to enter the North when it crossed the Potomac River and headed for Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. Lee had issued strict orders forbidding his men to damage or confiscate private property unless it was a requisition made for necessary supplies, and overseen by authorized Confederate staff. Jenkins’s men half-heartedly obeyed, and scoured the area for anything valuable, including African Americans, fugitive or legally free, who might be sold into slavery. One horrified Chambersburg resident watched local blacks attempt to hide in cornfields only to have troopers chase …

The Storm Breaks: Gettysburg’S African-American Community During The Battle, Brian D. Johnson

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

By late June 1863, though rebel troops had already occupied Gettysburg briefly, the threat to the borough grew still more ominous. Rebel troops had cut the town’s railroad lifeline to the north by destroying a bridge across Rock Creek, and convinced the local telegraph operator to flee with his equipment. The new isolation from news accentuated scattered reports of large forces, rebel and federal, approaching the borough from all directions. When federal cavalry arrived on June 30 to take up defensive positions west of town, Gettysburg residents sensed a looming battle. [excerpt]

'Dred Scott V. Sandford' Analysis, Sarah E. Roessler

Student Publications

The Scott v. Sandford decision will forever be known as a dark moment in America's history. The Supreme Court chose to rule on a controversial issue, and they made the wrong decision. Scott v. Sandford is an example of what can happen when the Court chooses to side with personal opinion instead of what is right.

Only Hindsight: Where Are The Historian Futurists?, John M. Rudy

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

A friend who is planning a pie-in-the-sky conference (about which I'm super excited) texted me today with a quick question. "Who would be a good 'Historian of the Future?'" he asked, adding the bonus that I could dream big. "Money no object," the next text read.

I was at a loss for a few minutes. Who is the historian of the future? Who is trying to visualize that skill-set, categorize that life, read the trends of the past and plot the course of history yet to come? [excerpt]

Calm Before The Storm: Gettysburg’S African-American Community Before The Battle, Brian D. Johnson

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

African-Americans have always been a part of Gettysburg’s community fabric. Slaves belonging to Samuel Gettys, the area’s first settler, arrived as early as 1762 to build one of the first local taverns. Samuel’s son James, who founded Gettysburg in 1786, also owned slaves, including Sydney O’Brien. After her owner’s death, O’Brien obtained her freedom, and in purchasing a small lot along South Washington Street helped establish the borough’s African-American neighborhood. The free black community continued to grow over the first decades of the nineteenth century as Pennsylvania’s policy of gradual emancipation effectively ended slavery in the state by the 1840s. …

Her Bright Blazon Forever Unstained, John M. Rudy

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

Just a few lyrics today, nothing more, nothing less. Lyrics of joy. Lyrics of home. Lyrics of who we are as a nation. Might we never forget who we are again. [excerpt]

Martin L. Stoever: Moving His Abolition Needle, John M. Rudy

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

Two letters appeared in the Lutheran and Missionary in the late summer of 1864 signed, "M.L.S."

The summer session had ended at Pennsylvania College. The campus was quiet, the classrooms were empty. For professors at the college, the brief breaks between semesters were a much-needed respite from the daily grind of professorial life. Any sane professor would use the few brief moments to unwind. [excerpt]

America's Pastime: Base Ball's Battlefields, John M. Rudy

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

Somewhere in a field just north of the Pennsylvania College campus, a hurler threw a ball to a striker. The air was undoubtedly crisp. Novembers in Gettysburg can be cool. The local papers were already predicting that the winter of 1865-66 would come on early and bitter. Standing on the bases, men readied to run home and score another point for their team. [excerpt]

Echoes On The Gettysburg Battlefield, John M. Rudy

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

Back at the beginning of the summer, I was asked by the College to write a piece on the history of the battle and its many resonances for what turned out to be an obscure periodical and not the actual USA Today. That means next to no one got the chance to read the piece, which I was quite happy with. So I wanted to share that piece with all of you.

How does Gettysburg's unique history echo backwards and forwards? [excerpt]

Lincoln And Liberty, Too, Allen C. Guelzo

Civil War Era Studies Faculty Publications

“The world has never had a good definition of the word liberty,” Abraham Lincoln said in 1864. And surely, from Lincoln of all people, that statement must come as a surprise, and for two reasons. In the first place, no one in American history might be said to have been a more shining example of liberty than Abraham Lincoln. Not only had he exercised liberty to its fullest extent, rising from poverty and obscurity to become the 16th president of the United States, but in the process he became the Great Emancipator of over three million slaves, and if anyone …

1 1/2 Years In Death Valley, Louis T. Gentilucci

Student Publications

This paper is an exploration into the historian as an independent source of history. Homer T. Rosenberger was an amateur historian in Pennsylvania during the better part of the 20th century. His works on Pennsylvania history, early American history, and contemporary historical events are valuable, if unknown, resources in those fields. However, Rosenberger becomes his own source of history when his battle with cancer is examined in the context of the American 1950's. Rosenberger's reactions to his plight help illustrate the mindset American brought to cancer in the 1950's and the transition in American society since then.

Ngram 150th: Race, Sex And Big Data, John M. Rudy

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

Data is powerful in the right hands. Aggregate data is even more powerful. And Google is data.

One of the odder tools in the Google arsenal is the Ngram viewer a search engine which charts trends within the folds of Google Books' database. Punch in anything. I mean it. Try anything in the Ngram search engine and start falling down the historical trends rabbit hole. [excerpt]

Things Never Change: Piecing Together College Life, John M. Rudy

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

Sometimes you stumble on something on eBay you just can't pass up. It's that $6 buy that is awkward, odd and just a little out of your scope. But it's only $6. If you'd buy a burger for $6, you shouldn't pass up an original letter from 1835.

Every letter has a story. And each of those stories has its own drama, its own meaning, its own power. The mundanities of human life can be just as powerful as the battles and charges. [excerpt]

Shaw's Backside: The Other Side Of An Icon, John M. Rudy

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

This week I find myself in Boston, one of the couple of American cities which call themselves the cradle of liberty. But I'm not drawn like a moth to the Revolution. It's just not my bean.

Instead, I find myself in the awkward position of standing at a visitor desk and asking a park ranger what will interest a Civil War geek in a Revolutionary-bent city. That dog don't hunt so well. [excerpt]

Ms-151: Dr. Edward F. Sipe ’26 Papers, Angela A. Badore

All Finding Aids

This collection consists primarily of letters, photographs, and academic materials from Gettysburg College in 1922-1926, as well as miscellaneous memorabilia from that time and a small amount of alumni materials. The academic materials include textbooks and lab manuals, mostly from biology and chemistry courses, as well as class notes written by Sipe. While the letters were written during Sipe’s time as a student, they are almost entirely from female friends of Sipe, none of whom appear to have attended Gettysburg College. Most of the photographs are unidentified and lack any sort of date, with the exception of Sipe’s graduation photo …

Plunge Into Shonash Ravine: Thinking 4th Dimensionally In Interpretation, John M. Rudy

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

This piece was written for NAI's annual workshop this coming fall, but not everyone will have the chance to be in Reno to hear my presentation come November. So, why not give you a sneak peak of what I'm planning on discussing in Nevada? [excerpt]

Child's Play: War, Toys And Avoiding The Trivial, John M. Rudy

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

This past weekend, I let my two hobbies combine. I spend a good chunk of my spare time doing incessant, weird and wild historical research. If you've read along on the blog for any appreciable time, you know the odd corners I've turned finding peculiar and striking stories both here in Gettysburg and beyond.

But I have another hobby.

I am an Adult Fan of LEGO. [excerpt]

Ms-143: Frederick Weiser ’57 Papers, Stephanie Bowen

All Finding Aids

A large portion of the collection contains documents related to the management of the Pennsylvania German Society. It includes correspondence from fellow Directors, Committee Chairs, Society members, authors and researchers; as well as memos, minutes, and financial records from various Society committees. A portion of the Society- related papers include documents, pamphlets and sources relating to Society events, issues, and special interests.

Smaller portions of the collection have personal scrapbooks, photos, and postcards of Weiser's travels in Europe, the United States, and his time at Gettysburg College. Some others are related to the Lutheran church and early German immigrant culture. …