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Full-Text Articles in Public History
In Gettysburg, The Confederacy Won, Scott Hancock
In Gettysburg, The Confederacy Won, Scott Hancock
Africana Studies Faculty Publications
Almost every day, I ride my bicycle past some of the over 1,300 statues and monuments commemorating the Civil War in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, where I live. They are everywhere. None of them are of black people.
The Battle of Gettysburg, fought over three days in July of 1863, is often considered the turning point of a war fought over the fate of slavery in America. Black people ultimately were the reason why over 165,000 soldiers came to this Pennsylvania town in the first place. But on the battlefield, as far as the physical memorials, they disappear. (excerpt)
Finding Meaning In The Flag: Birth Of A Symbol, Olivia J. Ortman
Finding Meaning In The Flag: Birth Of A Symbol, Olivia J. Ortman
The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History
he only logical place to start our journey with the Confederate flag is at its birth to examine meanings bestowed upon it by the Confederate soldiers. To do this, we must look at the history of flags within the Confederate nation. Upon its creation in 1861, the Confederate nation immediately set out to design a new flag. Headed by South Carolina’s former state representative, William Porcher Miles, a committee was formed to choose a design that would be original to the Confederacy while remaining reminiscent of the U.S. flag. Although Southerners had split from the Union itself, they were not …
Finding Meaning In The Flag: Contextualizing The Confederate Flag, Olivia J. Ortman
Finding Meaning In The Flag: Contextualizing The Confederate Flag, Olivia J. Ortman
The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History
When I first learned about the removal of the Confederate flag from South Carolina’s state building in July of 2015, I was angry like many other people. For me, it wasn’t about the actual removal of the flag, but rather the arguments sparked around it. I understood not flying the flag on a state building; as such a building represents state and country, and the Confederate flag symbolizes neither the United States nor South Carolina. However, I didn’t understand the public hatred towards the flag.
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