Public History Commons^™

This Month In Civil War History: March 2016, Jeffrey L. Lauck

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

Transcript:

Welcome to The Civil War Institute’s This Month in Civil War History for March.

President Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated as the sixteenth President of the United States on March 4th, 1861.

In his address, he appealed to the Southern states, encouraging them to come back into the Union by remarking "though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection."

In closing, he hoped that "the better angels of our nature" would avoid the oncoming war.

Exactly four years later, President Lincoln hummed a different tune at his second inaugural Address. [excerpt]

What I Saw Of The Rally: A Few Observations From The Confederate Flag Protests, Jeffrey L. Lauck

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

The normally quiet town of Gettysburg was once more disrupted by battle when two groups of protesters went head-to-head over the memory of the Confederate flag. Since the tumult and confusion of that fateful Saturday two weeks ago, many have weighed in on the day’s events with varying degrees of accuracy and distorted perceptions of reality. The following is my account. [excerpt]

A Middle East Perspective: Civil War Memory In Syria And At Home, Anika N. Jensen

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

Last summer, while on a trip with the Eisenhower Institute’s Inside the Middle East program, I stood at the Israeli edge of the Golan Heights and heard a bomb explode across the border in Syria. We had spent the day within several miles of the war-ravaged nation with all remaining quiet until that moment, and while none of us wanted to admit it, we had the smallest hope that we might catch a glimpse of the conflict. However, when the sound of the detonation roared across the hills, excitement was replaced by a sense of fear and grief. I had …

This Month In Civil War History: January 2016, Jeffrey L. Lauck

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

Transcript:

Welcome to The Civil War Institute’s "This Month in Civil War History for January."

In January of 1861, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, and Louisiana joined South Carolina in seceding from the Union. In their articles of secession, the states made explicit references to defending the future of slavery in their reasons for seceding. [excerpt]

This Month In Civil War History: December 2015, Jeffrey L. Lauck

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

Transcript:

Welcome to the Civil War Institute’s “This Month in Civil War History” for December.

In December of 1860 delegates met in Columbus, South Carolina and voted in favor of seceding from the Union. In their justification for leaving the Union, the delegates emphasized their fear that the newly elected President Abraham Lincoln would outlaw slavery. [excerpt]

Seeing The Sorrow Anew: Recapturing The Reality Of Suffering Through Srebrenica, Matthew D. Laroche

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

Those who know death know mourning. Those who know mourning know the meaning of empty spaces that we all wish had stayed filled. But do we, or even can we, as the few members of this society who habitually reflect upon the tragedies and triumphs of the past, fully understand the immensity of the suffering we dwell upon while wandering our battlefields? [excerpt]

The Clash Of Storytelling And History, Ryan M. Nadeau

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

One of the most enduring archetypes of heroic storytelling is the triumph of the underdog: a figure who overcomes great and powerful foes due to their innate virtues, the nobility of their goal, or the hubris of their arrogant and highly flawed enemy. Their triumph illustrates the existence of greater forces of fairness, justice, and righteousness in their story world: a world in which they who are truly deserving of victory find it, and they who are unworthy are cast down – a story which has a spotty record at best in the real world. The narrative does not necessarily …

Say “Neigh” To Abuse: On The Treatment Of Horses And Mules In The Civil War, Anika N. Jensen

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

The stuffed head of Old Baldy, General George Meade’s favorite horse, can be found mounted on the wall of the Grand Army of the Republic Museum in Philadelphia. General Robert E. Lee’s horse, Traveler, received gifts and international adoration even after the war’s end, and General Ulysses S. Grant’s three war mounts, including one pony stolen from a plantation belonging to Jeff Davis’ brother, rested comfortably in fame and verdant pastures until the ends of their lives [excerpt].

Silent Guardian: The 15th New Jersey Monument, Elizabeth A. Smith

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

This post is part of a series featuring behind-the-scenes dispatches from our Pohanka interns working on the front lines of history this summer as interpreters, archivists, and preservationists. See here for the introduction to the series.

He stands at rest, knees slightly bent, musket casually leant back. His hands loosely grip the barrel, one over the other, calm but prepared. His mustached face looks with weary eyes over the slaughter ground. In the background can be seen trees alongside a winding dirt road and a solitary wheel—perhaps from a cannon—beside his left leg. He stands immobile, forever gazing over the …

Making A Statement: The Alabama Memorial At Gettysburg, Matthew D. Laroche

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

This post is part of a series featuring behind-the-scenes dispatches from our Pohanka Interns working on the front lines of history this summer as interpreters, archivists, and preservationists. See here for the introduction to the series.

Every generation has plenty to remember about its time spent shaping the human story. But despite this, some generations are better at writing their stories than others. Or perhaps some generations leave more unfinished work for their descendants to sift through. Either way, the legacy of the Civil War still lays heavy on our shoulders. Here at Gettysburg, in particular, the memory of the …

Once More Unto The Breach: 2015 Pohanka Interns Engage Public History, Kevin P. Lavery

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

Every summer, we feature posts on the blog that provide a behind-the-scenes view of what it’s like to practice history on the frontlines at some of the nation’s leading Civil War sites. Our contributors – Gettysburg College students doing summer internships under the auspices of CWI’s Brian C. Pohanka Internship Program – share their experiences giving tours, talking with visitors, and working with historical artifacts, educational programs, and archival collections. This summer, we’ve asked our Pohanka interns to reflect on an assortment of questions dealing with Civil War monuments and historical memory, broadening interpretation at Civil War battlefield sites, social …

Memory On Parade: The Gallipoli Centenary And Anzac Day Commemoration, Kevin P. Lavery

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

On April 25, 2015, record crowds were drawn from across Australia and New Zealand to the annual Anzac Day celebrations. This year’s commemoration was extra special, for it marked the one hundredth anniversary of the First World War’s Gallipoli campaign. Several of my primary news sources reported heavily on the festivities and it all got me thinking again about how people rally around these patriotic, semi-historical holidays even if the holidays are often distorted reflections of the historic events that they are meant to commemorate [excerpt].

Striking The Balance: Bringing Peace To The Battlefield Of Preservation, Matthew D. Laroche

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

Most Gettysburg residents took note this past winter when the Appalachian Brewing Company’s branch restaurant near the Lutheran Seminary closed. The Civil War Trust bought the land for its historical value; the structure and an adjacent hotel surround the Mary Thompson House, General Lee’s Headquarters during the battle. From the moment of purchase, the plan had been to demolish the buildings, sow grass, and transfer the four-acre lot to the National Park Service as a prized addition to the park. Most onlookers probably think that the tale is told as soon as the land is bought, cleared, and promised to …

On The Fields Of Glory: A Student’S Reflections On Gettysburg, The Western Front, And Normandy, Kevin P. Lavery

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

I’m very fortunate to have had no shortage of opportunities to get out into the field and put my classroom learning into practice. I am especially lucky to have twice had the opportunity to travel to Europe. Two years ago, I went with my first-year seminar to explore the Western Front of World War I in France and Belgium. This year, I travelled with The Eisenhower Institute to tour the towns and beaches of Normandy where the Allies launched their invasion of Hitler’s Europe during World War II. Having experienced these notable sites of military history, and having taken a …

Crusading For The Truth, Kevin P. Lavery

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

Last semester, I received a very memorable critique on one of my more polarizing blog posts. In it, a reader derisively referred to another of the CWI Fellows and me as “truth-driven crusaders” for our commitment to healthy historical engagement. Finding it an appropriate if not excessively romanticized description of the work we do as historians-in-training, my friends and I have since then appropriated the term to describe ourselves. I feel obliged to admit here that the antagonism signaled by the term “crusader” makes me a bit uneasy, but I like to think that we “crusade” against certain ideas, and …

Gettysburg: A Town Built On Tourism, Kevin P. Lavery

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

In my most recent blog posts, I’ve adopted a rather unforgiving stance on the rampant consumerism that pervades the town of Gettysburg. Essentially, I have argued that the borough’s tacky gift shops sell odious little trinkets to gullible tourists and profiteer from the public’s morbid obsession with war and death. But while I firmly believe that this zealous consumerism is a persistent threat to healthy historical engagement, there is another side to the issue that demands to be recognized: Gettysburg kitsch is part of what has made Gettysburg into a town brimming with opportunities to broaden the public’s historical consciousness. …

Lost: Sesquicentennial Sanity. If Found, Please Contact Borough Of Gettysburg., Kevin P. Lavery

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

If you were in Gettysburg during the summer of 2013, you surely encountered the ubiquitous 150th Gettysburg logo branded on everything from promotional materials to souvenirs. The latter – tacky at best and irreverent at worst – filled the town to the point of excess, making some of us wonder how many people completely missed the point of the sesquicentennial. Anniversaries exert a powerful force on the American historical psyche, but it is dubious whether Gettysburg’s celebration exerted an appropriate one. The sesquicentennial was a wonderful opportunity to refocus on the events of July 1863, but sadly many businesses in …

Gettysburg’S Faustian Bargain, Kevin P. Lavery

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

A question to the reader: have you ever visited Gettysburg? Presumably most of the Gettysburg Compiler’s audience will answer in the affirmative. A follow-up question: have you ever purchased a souvenir from one of the town’s abundant gift shops? Perhaps it was a kepi or a cork gun for your child? Or maybe a bottle of “Rebel Red” wine? Or some tacky trinket or faux antique?

Let’s face it: we live in a consumer society in which there is nothing too sacred to profit from. And, sadly, the Battle of Gettysburg is no exception. [excerpt]

George Gordon Meade And Barnegat Lighthouse, Brianna E. Kirk

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

Tucked away off the coast of central New Jersey on the small stretch of land called Long Beach Island is a little piece of Civil War history. It is here that a largely unknown monument highlights a figure so well known by those four hours away in the small Pennsylvania town of Gettysburg. I have been visiting Long Beach Island since I was young, and yet had no knowledge of this Civil War connection that had been staring me in the face until my mother enthusiastically shouted to me, “Brianna! Gettysburg!” As I climbed the sandy hill towards a monument …

O'Er Silent Fields, Bryan G. Caswell

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

Followers of the Compiler may remember a piece I wrote in the early autumn of 2013 on the last stand of the 16th Maine Regiment of Volunteer Infantry on the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg. As I am living in Gettysburg this summer while I work as a Brian C. Pohanka intern in Gettysburg College’s Special Collections, I of course could not miss the chance to hike up to the location of that stand on Oak Ridge to pay tribute to those boys from Maine. [excerpt]