History Commons^™

Ms-100: Reuel Williams Waters, 1st Battalion, Maine Light Artillery, 6th Maine Battery, Chelsea M. Bucklin

All Finding Aids

This collection consists of three letters and a twenty-two page diary penned by Reuel Williams Waters. The letters are written by Waters to his sisters. Additionally, a photograph of Reuel Waters, several newspaper clippings concerning members of Waters’ family and reunions of the 6th Maine Battery, letters penned by Waters’ mother and sister-in-law after the war, and notes concerning Waters and Bentley (Waters’ wife Emily Bentley) family genealogy are included in this collection.

Special Collections and College Archives Finding Aids are discovery tools used to describe and provide access to our holdings. Finding aids include historical and biographical information about …

Art+Politics, Shannon Egan, Jenna L. Birkenshock, Hillary B. Goodall, Tessa M. Sheridan, Josiah B. Adlon, Megan E. Hilands, Emily A. Francisco, Molly E. Reynolds, Shelby P. Glass, Colleen L. Parrish, Francesca S. Debiaso

Schmucker Art Catalogs

For the exhibition Art + Politics, students worked closely with the holdings of Gettysburg College's Special Collections and College Archives to curate an exhibition in Schmucker Art Gallery that engages with issues of public policy, activism, war, propaganda, and other critical socio-political themes. Each of the students worked diligently to contextualize the objects historically, politically, and art-historically. The art and artifacts presented in this exhibition reveal how various political events and social issues have been interpreted through various visual and printed materials, including posters, pins, illustrations, song sheets, as well as a Chinese shoe for bound feet. The students' …

"Truth Is Mighty & Will Eventually Prevail" Political Correctness, Neo-Confederates, And Robert E. Lee, Peter S. Carmichael

Civil War Institute Faculty Publications

Jefferson Davis sent Robert E. Lee an unusual note after the battle of Gettysburg. The dispatch did not contain any presidential recommendations or requests, only a clipped article from the Charleston Mercury criticizing Lee and his subordinates for failure in Pennsylvania. Why Davis sent this article is impossible to say, and Lee apparently was not interested in the president’s motivations. The General dismissed newspaper criticism of himself as “harmless,” but the Mercury’s condemnation of the army disturbed him. He considered the charges harmful to the cause, for his officers and soldiers were beyond reproach. Defeat, Lee insisted, was his responsibility …

Manassas: Why They Fought Here, John M. Rudy

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

Another quick observational post on the Sesquicentennial event at Manassas last month. This time, it all revolves around the Confederate living history camp adjacent to the Henry House, and more directly to the exhibit there which the reenactors entitled, "Flags of Manassas." Curiously, the flags of Manassas were only rebel banners, with nary an American flag in sight. But that's another discussion completely. [excerpt]

Manassas: Heat Of The Moment, John M. Rudy

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

Before I go any further, I need to make something clear: they tried. Oh, they tried so hard. The deck was stacked against them and they gave it the old Harvard try. Heat, a weekday and more... They tried so valiantly. But they came up short. [excerpt]

Ms-123: Robert D. Hanson Papers, Meghan E. Kelly

All Finding Aids

This collection is mainly comprised of letters and telegrams of the immediate Hanson family during WWII (1942-1946, with gaps), though there is a selection of letters to members of the family from other authors and a small group of letters written from 1904-1924 to Elizabeth and Henry Hanson from Elizabeth’s parents F. V. N. (Franklin Verzelius Newton) and L. T. ( Laura Trimble) Painter. In the sub-series of other letters addressed to Robert Hanson there are several letters pertaining to Robert’s admission to law school, the bar, and the army in addition to personal correspondence.

Special Collections and College Archives …

Ms-122: Civil War Institute Collection, Thomas P. Lester

All Finding Aids

This collection contains two different types of materials. Series I contains materials relating to the Civil War in general, and are organized by subject. Series II and III contain materials or records pertaining directly to the Civil War Conferences and the Civil War Institute from 1957 – 1963.

Special Collections and College Archives Finding Aids are discovery tools used to describe and provide access to our holdings. Finding aids include historical and biographical information about each collection in addition to inventories of their content. More information about our collections can be found on our website http://www.gettysburg.edu/special_collections/collections/.

"...Never Forget What They Did Here": Memorial Day 2011, John M. Rudy

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

One of my pleasures on this holiday is to buy and place a flag on the monument to the 14th U.S. Regulars in the valley of death. Along the banks of Plum Run, the Regulars held back an onslaught from a pell-mell group of charging Confederates in what would be the final phase of the fight in the Wheatfield and Devil's Den area on July 2nd, 1863. As they retreated back across the swampy lowlands, Confederates hot on their heels, their own gunners on the slopes of the hill had no choice but to fire into the mangled mess of …

How To Sap The Romance: America's National Killingfield Parks, John M. Rudy

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

"Maybe they should call them Killingfields instead of Battlefields..." [excerpt]

Ms-120: Naviglia-Woncheck World War Ii Letters Home: A Family Separated By War, G. Ronald Couchman

All Finding Aids

The collection consists of 31 letters or postcards by service men to loved ones at home. Nearly all of the letters are from members of the Naviglia-Woncheck extended family including the four Naviglia brothers: Louis (14 letters), John (one letter), James (one letter), Joseph (7 letters), and “Check” Woncheck (5 letters) the brother-in-law of their sister Anne. The collection also includes one letter from PFC James Faulkner to his sister and one letter from Pvt. David R. Curry to his cousin, Frances Faulkner, a card address to Ford Peters, a war ration book, a Draft Classification Notice for William Thomas …

"100 Spears Worth 100 Pieces": The Impact Of Ashigaru On Sengoku Jidai, Austin W. Clark

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

In the year 1545, during the latter half of Japan‘s Sengoku Period or ―Age of Warring States‖, the minor samurai Ukida Naoie was assigned thirty men and a small fief in the province of Bizen. His task was to cultivate and defend this small corner of the province from the ambitious and power-hungry lords and bandits that abounded in the Sengoku Period, but Naoie set his sights higher. Given direct control over his thirty men, a mere garrison force of infantry, he used them to conquer and rule over neighboring fiefs in the province. His reputation and his army grew …