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Full-Text Articles in History
Revisiting Fredericksburg: Using Provocation To Explore New Questions, Jonathan Tracey
Revisiting Fredericksburg: Using Provocation To Explore New Questions, Jonathan Tracey
The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History
To Freeman Tilden, provocation was an essential ingredient to effective interpretation, and I tend to agree with that idea. Both my walking tour at the Fredericksburg Battlefield Visitor Center and the interpretive exhibits at Chatham Manor utilize provocation in different forms, with different challenges and opportunities. Overall, the atmosphere of Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park is one that supports and encourages provocative thinking by visitors.
Concord’S Wayside: Home Of What?, Olivia Ortman
Concord’S Wayside: Home Of What?, Olivia Ortman
The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History
This summer, I have had the privilege of interning at Minute Man NHP in Concord, Massachusetts. My primary station here is the Wayside: Home of Authors. Right about now, you might be wondering what the Wayside is. That’s alright, I didn’t know what the house was until just this summer. The Wayside was the home of Louisa May Alcott, Nathanial Hawthorne, and Harriet Lothrop (or Margaret Sydney) – all prominent authors in the 19th century. This house also stood witness to the “shot heard round the world” and provided brief shelter to a fugitive slave. This house is a gold …
Choosing Your Battles: Provoking The Public At Fredericksburg And Spotsylvania National Military Park, Abby M. Currier
Choosing Your Battles: Provoking The Public At Fredericksburg And Spotsylvania National Military Park, Abby M. Currier
The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History
During training to be an intern at Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park, our instructors continuously stressed the importance of reading our audience. Whether we were greeting visitors at the front desk or leading walking tours, our job was to always watch the visitors and gauge what they are interested in. For me, this was initially very frustrating. I prefer to deal with concrete things instead of making judgement calls. It all sounded pretty wishy washy and that I would somehow ‘know’ what the visitor wanted just by looking at them. Needless to say, I was not convinced.
Making The Most Of Interpretative Tours At Fredericksburg And Spotslyvania National Military Park, Julia K. Deros
Making The Most Of Interpretative Tours At Fredericksburg And Spotslyvania National Military Park, Julia K. Deros
The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History
Freeman Tilden argues that the purpose of good interpretation is to inspire people to want to discover and learn for themselves in order to gain an understanding and appreciation for what they see. After having experienced the challenges of interpreting the battlefields at Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park, I agree that provocation is important to good interpretation.
A Different Sort Of Park: Interpreting Pow Experiences At Andersonville National Historic Site, Andrew Knight
A Different Sort Of Park: Interpreting Pow Experiences At Andersonville National Historic Site, Andrew Knight
The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History
Unlike many other historic sites, Andersonville does not fit neatly into any one box. It is not a battlefield, although we still interpret the experience of soldiers and the ideas they fought for. It is not a historic home or building; the only original parts of the site left are earthworks. Andersonville is a Civil War site but tells a story common to every war. Andersonville National Cemetery contains the remains of American soldiers from every American war except for 1812. Unlike any other National Cemetery entrusted to the National Park Service (except for Andrew Johnson National Historic Site) Andersonville …
Interpreting The Life And Times Of Maggie Walker, Lucy A. Marks
Interpreting The Life And Times Of Maggie Walker, Lucy A. Marks
The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History
As a part of my orientation as an intern at Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site, I was told that 90% of visitors who come into the site have a very limited knowledge of who Maggie L. Walker was and what she had accomplished in her 70 years of life. Equipped with that information I felt a heightened sense of responsibility for the overall quality and accuracy of my tour of her home. In my opinion, Mrs. Walker is one of the most extraordinary people in history, a big claim to make, but this claim speaks for itself even in …
Risky Business Provocation And Interpretation, Alexandria J. Andrioli
Risky Business Provocation And Interpretation, Alexandria J. Andrioli
The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History
The fourth commandment of Freeman Tilden’s six principles for interpretation is, “The chief aim of Interpretation is not instruction, but provocation.” This statement is both profound and problematic because the very heart of provocation is goading some sort of reaction from someone or something. Provocation usually has a negative connotation associated with it, like to purposely play the devil’s advocate in order to upset someone. Of course, a museum’s goal is never to intentionally upset visitors. However, at the same time, a museum may want to change the way visitors might think about a certain topic in order to view …
Provoking New Questions At Richmond National Battlefield Park, Kaylyn L. Sawyer
Provoking New Questions At Richmond National Battlefield Park, Kaylyn L. Sawyer
The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History
he first time I ever gave an interpretive tour was two years ago at the Virginia Museum of the Civil War in New Market, Virginia about a farmhouse that was in the midst of the fighting. My supervisor told me to make the house a home. Her advice to make a human connection between visitors and the past has influenced my style of interpretation, and I have carried it through other various internships including my time this summer at Richmond National Battlefield Park. While working in Richmond, I have been challenged, and challenged visitors, to think differently about the conflicts …
Provocation And Personalization: Sharing The History Of Manassas Battlefield, Jeffrey R. Martin
Provocation And Personalization: Sharing The History Of Manassas Battlefield, Jeffrey R. Martin
The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History
When I first read Freeman Tilden’s “Principles of Interpretation”, I was surprised to find that provocation was considered essential for effective interpretation. I reread it, to make sure I hadn’t read it wrong or misunderstood. Provocation? Why would the National Park Service want to provoke people? As an intern at Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park last summer, I learned that Tilden didn’t mean angering visitors; he meant inspiring the public to want to learn more on their own. To paraphrase, Tilden wrote that instruction and information are not the same thing as interpretation. Interpretation is not a fact-based lecture. …
A Not-So-Distant Mirror: Bringing The Revolution To Life Through Interpretation, Jonathan G. Danchik
A Not-So-Distant Mirror: Bringing The Revolution To Life Through Interpretation, Jonathan G. Danchik
The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History
I have not been able to escape Freeman Tilden’s grasp over the course of my three summers with the National Park Service. His writings and ideas seem to be everywhere, not out of pure coincidence, but because of the fact that nobody has eloquently and concisely gotten at the heart of what historical interpretation is quite like he has. In Interpreting Our Heritage, a book so ubiquitous that it might as well be hailed as the interpreter’s holy scripture, Tilden asserts that “the chief aim of interpretation is not instruction, but provocation.” This isn’t meaningless fluff; rather, it’s an important …
Fredericksburg’S Gray Angel: Truth Or Utility?, Jonathan G. Danchik
Fredericksburg’S Gray Angel: Truth Or Utility?, Jonathan G. Danchik
The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History
As with other battles, the Battle of Fredericksburg in 1862 yielded shocking results. Homes were destroyed, thousands died, and military doctrine was challenged and changed. One particular story, however, has emerged from Fredericksburg to represent a different narrative, one of compassion. The actions of a 20-year-old Confederate sergeant named Richard Rowland Kirkland are enshrined in stone at the end of Fredericksburg’s infamous “Sunken Road.”
Interpreting A Commemorative Landscape: Culp's Hill And Spangler's Spring, Zachary A. Wesley
Interpreting A Commemorative Landscape: Culp's Hill And Spangler's Spring, Zachary A. Wesley
Student Publications
Culp's Hill is described as one of the least visited and most under interpreted portions of Gettysburg National Military Park. This paper analyzes some of the sites in the vicinity of Culp's Hill and Spangler's Spring to create a picture of both the fighting on July 2, 1863, and the interactions of veterans and tourists with the area in the years and decades following the Civil War.