History Commons^™

"He's My Man": Sherman Adams And New Hampshire's Role In The "Draft Eisenhower" Movement, Michael J. Birkner

History Faculty Publications

On presidential primary day, March 11, 1952, wet snow fell steadily over much of New Hampshire, and campaign managers became anxious about getting out their vote. Governor Sherman Adams, manager of the "draft Eisenhower" campaign, had a lot riding on a primary that President Harry Truman had dismissed as little more than "eyewash." By all evidence, Americans wanted change in Washington. The New Hampshire primary results would surely influence the making of a president. Adams knew there was only one thing to do: stop worrying about the weather and start moving his people to the polls.

So Far From God And So Close To Stonewall Jackson: The Executions Of Three Shenandoah Valley Soldiers, Peter S. Carmichael

History Faculty Publications

Mount Pisgah Church had long been a place where Orange County Baptists sought salvation and spiritual comfort. Wars have a way of turning such holy places into brutal scenes of killing. Although a battle was never fought on the sacred ground of the church, Pisgah witnessed man's inhumanity on 19 August 1862, when a firing squad executed three deserters from Brig. Gen. William B. Taliaferro's division of Stonewall Jackson's command - all of whom were conscripts from the Shenandoah Valley. Until that depressing afternoon, when veterans formed a hollow square and waited for the condemned, no deserters in Jackson's command …

The Failure Of Maternal Domesticity: An Evaluation Of Frankenstein As A Didactic Source, Keith R. Swaney

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

Is man inherently good or evil? Nineteenth century Romantics, inspired by the doctrine of Jean Jacques Rousseau, hypothesized that man is a product of his or her environment. Middle class society imputed the mother as the gateway by which a child learns to become a model human being. This theory held that mothers nurture their offspring naturally. Children learn proper morals and social conduct based upon a female-inspired education. Without this domestic influence on their lives, children fall into the trap of an “eye for an eye” ideology. The monster that Mary Shelley conceives in Frankenstein defies the domestic conception …

Letter From The Editor, Kevin Luy

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

No abstract provided.

The Men And Women Of Gettysburg College: Class Of 1903, Daryl Grenz

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

On Thursday September 7, 1899 a new school year (its sixty-eighth) began at Pennsylvania College in Gettysburg.1 Many students had arrived as early as that Sunday to begin settling into their rooms. Many of the forty-three new students2 had been accepted the previous June by passing a series of entrance exams in all of the applicable subject areas, especially the Classics. A number of others had waited and taken the exams as the school year started. Eighteen individuals were exempt from entrance exams because of their satisfactory work during the previous year at the attached preparatory school in Stevens Hall. …

"The Tenter-Hooks Of Temptation": The Debate Over Theatre In Post-Revolutionary America, Meredith Bartron

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

In Royall Tyler’s 1787 play The Contrast, the innocent and simple Yankee Jonathan unknowingly attends a playhouse, mistaking it for a hocus pocus show. The historian and eighteenth-century theatre manager, William Dunlap, later criticized Tyler’s play because his hero was a clown who misrepresented the new nation that the Revolutionary War created. Tyler’s satirical portrait of his hero, however, is not an attack on the Yankee, but rather a symbol of the ideological conflicts within America. Jonathan repeats the religious charges against theatre, but he also joins in the fun at the playhouse. He is simple and honest, but he …

Broken Bodies, Shattered Dreams: The Aftermath Of A Life As A Korean "Comfort Woman", Jessica Wininger

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

The Pacific War in Asia is infamous for the sickening atrocities committed by the military forces of both the Allies and Japan. Proof of the carnage is undeniable and is often discussed in textbooks, history classes, and documentaries around the world. The forced recruitment of women to serve as sex slaves to the Japanese military is included on the long list of wartime tragedies, however it often remains on the periphery of discussions on wartime violence. The negligence is due in part to the half century of silence that followed the victimization of the women most often known as “ianfu,” …

The Lincoln Enigma: The Changing Faces Of An American Icon, Gabor Boritt

Gettysburg College Faculty Books

Nearly a century and a half after his death, Abraham Lincoln remains an intrinsic part of the American consciousness, yet his intentions as president and his personal character continue to stir debate.

Now, in The Lincoln Enigma, Gabor Boritt invites renowned Lincoln scholars, and rising new voices, to take a look at much-debated aspects of Lincoln's life, including his possible gay relationships, his plan to send blacks back to Africa, and his high-handed treatment of the Constitution. Boritt explores Lincoln's proposals that looked to a lily-white America. Jean Baker marvels at Lincoln's loves and marriage. David Herbert Donald highlights …

The Presidency Of Charles E. Glassick, 1977-1989: An Appraisal, Michael J. Birkner

Gettysburg College Faculty Books

On August 1, 1977 Charles Glassick assumed his duties as president of Gettysburg College. With the 25th anniversary of that event approaching, it seemed appropriate to take stock of Glassick's accomplishments. This was an eventful presidency for Gettysburg, as the college began to identify itself less as a worthy, but modest, Lutheran institution of higher learning than as a national liberal arts college. The process of embracing a new identity was not always smooth, but under Glassick's leadership the college prospered. Gettysburg in 1989 remained committed as always to the liberal arts mission it had long espoused, but it did …

Interview With Salvatore Ciolino, July 9, 2002, Salvatore Ciolino, Michael J. Birkner

Oral Histories

Salvatore Ciolino was interviewed on July 9, 2002 by Michael Birkner about his time at Gettysburg College when Charles Glassick was president. He discussed his position as director of Financial Aid during the 1970's-1980's.

Length of Interview: 73 minutes

Collection Note: This oral history was selected from the Oral History Collection maintained by Special Collections & College Archives. Transcripts are available for browsing in the Special Collections Reading Room, 4^th floor, Musselman Library. GettDigital contains the complete listing of oral histories done from 1978 to the present. To view this list and to access selected digital versions please visit …

Thomas Barton's November 8, 1756 Report To The Society For The Propagation Of The Gospel In Foreign Parts

Adams County History

This is a transcript of Thomas Barton's report to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, 1756,

"It gives me a real concern that I have never been able to send you any Account since I enter'd upon my Mission till now. Our Distresses Here have been such, that in short, I knew not what to write or what to do: These Considerations will I hope still support me in your Esteem, & incline the Honorable Society to Pardon me. - As I intend to be the more particular now, to atone for my past Silence; …

Nación, Colonialismo, Y Modernidad En La Declaración De Independencia Del Perú (1821), Alvaro Kaempfer

Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Gettysburg Historical Journal 2002

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

No abstract provided.

The Benjamin Loan Mills, Barbara Senier, John Senier

Adams County History

Although there was a time when the Benjamin Loan Mills were alive with activity, those days are now gone. They ended a century ago when the gristmill and the sawmill closed in 1901 after yet another fire. When the smoke cleared, Christian Deardorff, the mills' last owner, may have sighed with relief, for he had been trying sporadically to sell the mills for thirteen years, ever since he had rebuilt them after an earlier fire. In 1901, when again faced with fire-damaged mills, Deardorff decided not to rebuild them. In doing so, he also closed the last chapter in the …

Adams County History 2002

Adams County History

No abstract provided.

Journal Of An Expedition To The Ohio, Commanded By His Excellency Brigadier-General Forbes In The Year Of Our Lord 1758

Adams County History

This is a transcript of the daily journal of the expedition, as written by John Forbes in 1758.

"Friday, 7th of July, receiv'd the Governor's Commission appointing me Chaplain to the 3d Battalion of the Pennsylvania Regiment, commanded by Colonel Mercer; with a Letter from the Secretary apologizing for my not having the Preference of the other two.-

Wednesday, July 12th. Set off from my own House in York County, & reach'd Carlisle that Night, where I receiv'd the General's Letter, with an invitation to attend the Troops under his Command; & promising me his Protection & Encouragement.-" [excerpt …

Front Matter

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

Includes title page and table of contents.

Introduction To Reverend Thomas Barton's Letter Of November 8, 1756 And Forbes Expedition Journal Of 1758, James P. Myers Jr.

Adams County History

When western York county became Adams county in the year 1800, the area already possessed something of a recorded history reaching back into the late 1730s. Principally in the form of documents relating to administrative, legal, and land-claim issues, these official papers provide us today with valuable evidence of the county's early settlers-who came, when they arrived, where they settled, and occasionally how they got along, or did not get along, with one another and with the colonial Penn government, and later with that of the new state erected during the Revolution. In its earliest period, these documents offer insight …

Holland's Informants: The Construction Of Josiah Holland's 'Life Of Abraham Lincoln', Allen C. Guelzo

Civil War Era Studies Faculty Publications

Abraham Lincoln's coffin had lain in the receiving vault in Springfield's Oak Ridge Cemetery for less than three weeks when a dapper, walrus-mustachioed New Englander stepped off the train and checked into Springfield's St. Nicholas Hotel. He was Josiah Gilbert Holland, one-time editor (and still part owner) of the Springfield, Massachusetts, Republican, a nationally popular writer of advice books, and (what would turn out to be most memorably) part of a small circle of admirers and encouragers of an unknown Amherst poet named Emily Dickinson. None of those attributes, however, provided the slightest qualification for the task that brought …

Coercion Gone Wrong: Colonial Response To The Boston Port Act, Jared Peatman

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

On March 25, 1774, the British Parliament passed the Boston Port Act, closing Boston Harbor to commerce. The act was meant to force Boston into paying for tea dumped into the harbor four months earlier during the Boston Tea Party. Parliament believed that the colonies would not support Boston and it would be only a short time before Boston acquiesced and paid for the tea, reestablishing British authority in the colonies.1 They could not have been more wrong. The thirteen colonies were deeply disturbed by the Boston Port Act, and came together in a way that shocked Parliament. Rather than …

Kitchener's Volunteers, Peter Brauer

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

The fourth of August 1914 was a day of jubilation throughout Britain. German armies, numbering in the millions, had overrun Belgian border stations the previous day and were advancing unchecked across the frontier. As the morning progressed, a buzz of enthusiasm began to grow. News placards throughout Britain broadcast the news of the German invasion to the eager public from every street corner. Those British in the big cities were first to hear. From London to Birmingham, Manchester to Cardiff, and Edinburgh to Belfast, people gathered to hear the news. By noon, Trafalgar Square was packed end to end with …

Abigail And Mercy, Amber Moulton

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

The study of history, by its nature, is constantly evolving, as contemporary society reestablishes values and examines history under a new scope of social priorities. During this process of historical evolution, it is not events alone that take on new importance, but also the portrayal of historical figures themselves, personalities and influences changing from biography to biography over the years. Such has been the case with the historical Abigail Adams, best known for her well-preserved and archived correspondence with her husband, the Revolutionary Founding Father John Adams, among many other acquaintances. Abigail Adams has been portrayed in a number of …

A Majestic Presence: A Study Of The Development Of The Majestic Theater In Gettysburg, Jay Gallagher, Kelly Burnham, Nancy Moll

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

In an era of collective entertainment, before private home entertainment systems, people sought amusement within their communities. One aspect of this community entertainment, the theater, offered a social gathering place. Theaters provided an important dual role for the community—both for entertainment and also a certain amount of public service. Theaters in the 1920s and 1930s, in small towns such as Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, served a much different purpose than they do today, with a more prominent and more important role within society. In the 1920s and 1930s, Gettysburg had several theaters. The two most prominent were the Majestic and the Strand …

Letter From The Editor, Sarah Marie Andrews

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

No abstract provided.

"God Moves In A Mysterious Way": Public Discourse On Providence And The Battle Of Gettysburg, Sarah Marie Andrews

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

This study of public reaction to the Battle of Gettysburg in the context of the wider experience of the American Civil War focuses on the view of Providence in history and war. To that end, this study primarily utilizes documents which were part of the public discourse during the war. This includes two major groups of writings: newspaper editorials and articles and published sermons. This allows a view of the intersecting of religion with the secular world as well as patriotism within in the religious community. Collections from both the Union and the Confederacy have been accessed in an attempt …

The Tavern In Colonial America, Steven Struzinski

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

The tavern in Colonial America, or the “ordinary” as it was referred to in Puritan Massachusetts, was a staple in the social, political, and travel lives of colonial citizens from very early in this country’s existence. Samuel Cole in Boston opened the first tavern on March 4, 1634. It was not long before the demand and necessity for taverns in New England, and throughout the colonies, was overwhelming. In 1656 the General Court of Massachusetts held towns accountable with fines if they did not sustain an ordinary.

Interview With Stewart Herman, September 5, 2001, Stewart Herman, Michael J. Birkner

Oral Histories

Steward Herman was interviewed on September 5, 2001 by Michael J. Birkner about his time at Gettysburg College in the 1920's & 30's. Herman discusses his classes at the time, as well as extra-curricular activities he participated in, including the Gettysburgian, the Mercury, Owl & Nightingale Players and Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity. He also describes his education at Gettysburg Seminary and working as an American pastor in Berlin during WWII.

Length of Interview: 52 minutes

Collection Note: This oral history was selected from the Oral History Collection maintained by Special Collections & College Archives. Transcripts are available for browsing in …

Book Review: The Rise And Fall Of The American Whig Party: Jacksonian Politics And The Onset Of The Civil War By Michael Holt, Allen C. Guelzo

Civil War Era Studies Faculty Publications

"An impartial history of American statesmanship will give some of its most brilliant chapters to the Whig party from 1830 to 1850," wrote James G. Blaine in his memoirs. This was not, unhappily, because of a great heritage of political achievement in American public life. The work of the Whigs was, as Blaine admitted, negative and restraining rather than constructive. Still, "if their work cannot be traced in the National statute books as prominently as that of their opponents, they will be credited by the discriminating reader of our political annals as the English of to-day credit Charles James Fox …

Interview With John Roger Stemen, June 26, 2001, John R. Stemen, Michael J. Birkner

Oral Histories

John Roger Stemen was interviewed on June 26, 2001 by Michael J. Birkner about his experiences before he became a professor of History at Gettysburg College. He discusses his childhood in Indiana and focuses on his undergraduate education at Yale University and his service in the photolithography unit in Korea. After the war he attended Indiana University and Johns Hopkins University, where he obtained his doctorate.

Collection Note: This oral history was selected from the Oral History Collection maintained by Special Collections & College Archives. Transcripts are available for browsing in the Special Collections Reading Room, 4^th floor, Musselman …

Interview With Marion Ecker, June 23, 2001, Marion Ecker, Michael J. Birkner

Oral Histories

Marion Ecker was interviewed on June 23, 2001 by Michael J. Birkner about her life as a resident of Adams County. Ecker discusses her childhood and education at Shippensburg State, as well as her teaching career in Gettysburg. She also discusses her connections to Gettysburg College, especially the Plank family.

Collection Note: This oral history was selected from the Oral History Collection maintained by Special Collections & College Archives. Transcripts are available for browsing in the Special Collections Reading Room, 4^th floor, Musselman Library. GettDigital contains the complete listing of oral histories done from 1978 to the present. To …