Scott Hancock, a professor of history and African American studies at Gettysburg College, reflects on “unity” in the wake of the Civil War, “unity” as memorialized at the newest designated space on the Gettysburg battlefield, and “unity” in the age of...
Gettysburg
Pickett’s Charge: History and Memory
The Fourth of July holiday is a time for historians to take to twitter! Since Saturday AM we have been wrestling historically with the question “Was America Founded as a Christian Nation?” Get a tweet every 30 minutes at #ChristianAmerica?...
Another Battle at Gettysburg?
Next weekend marks the 154th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg. It looks like Gettysburg will once again be a battleground, but this time the “war” is a cultural one, focused on modern debates about free speech, the Trump presidency,...
Settling for Zachary Taylor
Last month the “Hall of Presidents,” a wax museum of American presidents in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, went out of business and auctioned-off everything in the museum. I live about thirty miles from Gettysburg and I was tempted to drive down for...
The Author’s Corner with Steve Longenecker
Steve Longenecker is Professor of American History at Bridgewater College. This interview is based on his new book, Gettysburg Religion: Refinement, Diversity, and Race in the Antebellum and Civil War Border North (Fordham University Press, 2014). JF: What led you to write...
100th Anniversary of Gettysburg Address
1963: [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZSuThJDjRE] British Pathe videos...
Gettysburg’s “Copse of Trees”
We were talking about Gettysburg the other day in my Pennsylvania History course and I found myself referencing the infamous “copse of trees.” Any Civil War buff knows what I mean by this phrase. The copse was the focal point...
Gettysburg: Memory, Market, Shrine
It is Gettysburg week in my Pennsylvania History course. I am devoting class on Tuesday and Thursday to the story and commemoration of the battle. I spent a good chunk of the day yesterday with Jim Weeks’s Gettysburg: Memory, Market,...
Gettysburg Religion
Steve Longenecker’s new book, Gettysburg Religion: Refinement, Diversity, and Race in the Antebellum and Civil War Border North, just came across my desk today. Fordham University Press did a really nice job with the dust jacket and it comes with...
Weekend in Gettysburg and Lancaster
I started off the weekend in Gettysburg where I visited the brand new (July 2013) Seminary Ridge Museum. This is a must stop the next time you are in Gettysburg. The museum, which is located on the campus of the...
JFK at Gettsyburg
It has been a very full week for history buffs. This week we commemorated the 150th anniversary of the Gettysburg Address and the assassination of John F. Kennedy. I thus found Diana Loski’s piece at The Gettysburg Experience particularly relevant […]
My Hometown Paper Retracts Its 1863 Editorial on the Gettysburg Address
In case you have not heard, the Harrisburg (PA) Patriot-News, known in 1863 as the Patriot & Union, did not like Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. In light of tomorrow’s 150th anniversary of the address, the newspaper has decided to retract its...
A Civil Religion Vacation
Gettysburg: Hallowed ground? Over at The Christian Century, Lutheran pastor Benjamin Dueholm describes his “civil religion vacation” to some of America’s most “sacred” places–the Statue of Liberty, Gettysburg, and Hyde Park. Here is a taste of his reflection on the...
A Battlefield Guide Reflects on the 150th Anniversary Celebration at Gettysburg
Garry Adelman is an author, licensed battlefield guide, and Director of History Education at the Civil War Trust. It sounds like he was pretty busy last week commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg. He reflects on the […]
Gettysburg vs. Gettysburg
Jesse Smith, writing at The Smart Set, discusses the historic tensions between the town of Gettysburg and Gettysburg National Military Park. Smith respects the attempts to keep the battlefield “sacred ground,” but also enjoys the kitsch of the town. She...
Seminary Ridge Museum Now Open
Have you visited the Seminary Ridge Museum yet? If you are in Gettysburg or planning a trip there soon I strongly encourage you to check it out. (It is located on the campus of the Lutheran Theological Seminary). I hope...
And There They Go!
Pickett’s Charge–July 3, 2013...
Allen Guelzo Debunks Some Myths About Gettysburg
Watch an interview with Guelzo here. And if you hadn’t read it yet, check out his Gettysburg: The Last Invasion....
Black at Gettysburg
What was it like to be an African American at Gettysburg in 1863? As Kevin Levin points out, many of them, like Abraham and Elizabeth Brian, were not present during the battle. The Brians and their family fled the town...
Gettysburg’s 150th: A Re-enactor Weighs In
Culp’s Hill, Gettysburg, PA What would the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg be without reenactors? Some of you will remember “Lewis Norman,” our soldier’s correspondent from the Civil War. Norman has taken us through the battles of Bull...