New Gettysburg Visitors Center

[Ken]

By now I'm sure everyone has obtained their latest copy of Civil War News which provides an article on the opening of the new visitors’ center. Once again we read about the new direction the visitors’ center has taken to bring the displays and visitors experience up to modern day standards. Gone are the walls of muskets, rifles and pistols and enter the new displays that include one or two selected artifacts that help to tell the bigger story of the battle of Gettysburg and the Civil War in general. I must admit that I'm struggling to reconcile this new approach in my mind for a couple of reasons. Being one of the older guys, 55, I remember my first visit to Gettysburg in the summer of 1963 for the Centennial Celebration. I still reflect fondly on those vivid childhood memories that stay with me to this day. That wonderful visitors center with that fantastic collection of uniforms, guns, headgear, artillery, etc., and of course that wonderful electric map. Let me state up front that I can certainly understand NPS desire to modernize the overall experience, however, what I cannot understand is the squirreling away of those wonderful artifacts we've all come to love never to see the light of day. Somehow, it seems almost criminal to control such a fantastic historical resource and purposely keep it from the public view. I keep asking myself why? Could there be more here then meets the eye? Could some of this be, in part, due the hard feelings that existed between Latscher and the Rosensteel family when the family first threatened a law suit when it was discovered the collection was not being stored properly? This was followed by the latest episode, the fight by the family to have Mr. Rosensteel's plaque displayed in the new museum and the NPS stance to relegate that to the basement along with all the other artifacts. I can't help feeling that this could be an underlying reason for the loss of these artifacts. A desire on the part of the NPS to extinguish the memory of the man who started it all. That, in my mind, would be petty, small minded, and pretty sad if true. Now onto the prime question here. If we say OK NPS you've made your decision regarding the direction the museum will take and how the collection will be used, or perhaps more accurately, not used, but is it fundamentally right to control such a historical resource and keep it from the general public? Wouldn't it be better, maybe even morally correct, to find a way for those artifacts to be displayed? For example, how about a program that loans items to other museums where people can see, study and enjoy them. This is my feeling. I was wondering how others thought and felt about this situation and is there anything that can be done about it?

Ken Raia

[Emmanuel Dabney]

Re: New Gettysburg Visitors Center

Sir,

This topic has been covered in recent months which certainly doesn't mean it can't be revisted.

However opinions can be found at: http://authentic-campaigner.com/foru...Visitor+Center

http://authentic-campaigner.com/forum/showthread.php?t=15914&highlight=Gettysburg+Visitor+Center

[militiaman1835]

Re: New Gettysburg Visitors Center

Sounds like the displays at the D-Day museum in N.O. Tell the story through certain select artifacts like a first aid pouch and the story behind the man who used it. Jim Hensley

[KarinTimour]

Re: New Gettysburg Visitors Center

Dear Ken:

I've not seen the new visitor's center, myself. I want to see it personally before deciding whether I think it's an improvement (or not) over the old visitor's center.

I also think that it's crucial, vital, so important I don't have the words to emphasize it enough, that we need to help to capture the interest and future support of those who are children now.

As a child I got taken to a lot of NPS sites, because my parents had limited money when we were on vacation. I visited many, many Civil War and Revolutionary War battlefields. But the things that stick out in my mind that captured my imagination were:

a. A first person reenctor dressed as a Union soldier at Appomattox -- he wasn't part of a reenactment, was just standing a post out at a fence by himself. My Dad went out and asked him a bunch of questions that a soldier of the time would have known. When he couldn't trip him up that way, he tried to get him to admit that he was a college student or a park ranger. He knew the answers to all Dad's questions, and didn't break character. I was about 11 at the time--but he was so believable that I wondered for years if he really had just been left behind after the surrender.

b. I join you in fondly remembering the first time I saw the electric map at Gettysburg. In fact, after that experience, I looked forward to electric maps everywhere.

c. I also remember a table-top diorama in the basement of a museum in Atlanta that was a sort of "sound and light show" of the Battle of Atlanta. Is that still there?

The children of today are used to video games, TV, cable television. Museum attendance at history heavy sites has been falling for several years. Now that very few school districts include history in the curriculum, fewer people will grow up knowing their history. Because our conflict is so tied up with the issues of race and slavery, for a significant number of potential museum visitors the whole idea of the War is a negative, shameful thought.

A year ago last fall I had the pleasure of wandering around in the new visitor's center at Tredegar Iron Works in Richmond -- I think the actual name is something like the National Civil War visitor's Center or something like that. It was a state of the art, highly interactive, bells and whistles experience -- with a number of artifacts loaned from many smaller museums that I've never visited -- some were institutions whose very names were new to me. It was crawling with children -- granted, some were playing tag in the hallways. But well over 2/3 were involved with the exhibits -- answering the quizzes, listening to the videos, trying to answer the puzzles and games. And the scholarship involved in those puzzles and games was thoughtful and in depth -- well past the "name three generals of the War for either side" variety.

I've been to Chickamauga, and I remember that room with all the guns in it. I'm sure those of you into guns just get that starry-eyed look in your eyes when you think about it. But rifles don't do much to engage me, personally. Now a whole room of socks, that would be another story....

When it comes to Gettysburg, I've long felt that there were whole chunks of the battle and the surrounding events that have not been told well, or at all. I'm reading The Colors of Courage by Margaret Creighton right now. It tells the story of the African-Americans, civilains and immigrants (some soldiers, some civilians) who were caught up and played a part in the battle. It's always been a personal beef of mine when I'm visiting Gettysburg, and someone asks me on Baltimore Street "where is the battlefield?" I point out that they are standing on it as they speak.

The old visitor's center could display only so much stuff, and I know that the storage facilities were far from adequate. I'm hoping that the new facilities will be able to display more, in a more interactive way so as to capture the interest of more visitors. I'm also hoping that they can additionally provide climate controlled, appropriate storage.

My two cents,
Karin Timour
Period Knitting -- Socks, Sleeping hats, Balaclavas
Atlantic Guard Soldiers' Aid Society
Email: Ktimour@aol.com

[Curt Schmidt]

Re: New Gettysburg Visitors Center

Hallo!

I will find out in three weeks... ;)

I suspect/expect it to be redone a la the National Civil War Museum in Harrisburg...)

(However, I am not optimistic as I am a dinosaur of antiquated material culture display where you bring your own history to supplement an ID card- rather than a wall with one or three artifacts and enormous posters and verbage telling you what the history should be.)

Curt
Roughly 7,000 artifacts down to 1,000ish Mess

[benjaminmcgee]

Re: New Gettysburg Visitors Center

Hey,

My first visit to Gettysburg was in 1981 at age of 8. With my Grandfather leading the way we visited all the familiar haunts illustrated in my American Heritage books. My most memorable event, more than the battlefield tour, was setting foot into the visitors center. I will always remember the musty smell and the copius amounts of "war porn" on display.

Benjamin McGee

[HistoryGeek]

Re: New Gettysburg Visitors Center

Ok. So NPS wants to take just this and that and show it and it will be important items that they think will tell the most important parts of the battle. On the other hand they would have everything out so people could admire them. Now which one will tell more of the battle? Which one can poeple enjoy more? That is the real question. What is going to happen with the rest of the stuff? Are they going to just stick it in boxes in their storage units? Stuff like this should be shared. What the U.S. should have is this huge museum that incorporates the battles in the West and in the East. Just information and some artifacts from all the battlefields. I know it's crazy and there were a ton of battles and skirmishes but it's logical from my view.

HistoryGeek
Evan Hunsberger

[Andrew Kasmar]

Re: New Gettysburg Visitors Center

Hi,

I agree with Mr. Schmidt that they should have kept many more artifacts in their display. I have been to that vistitor center about 10-15 times and I have been always interested in the artifacts there. I do hope the center will be interesting, but like Mr. Schmidt I am not optimistic. I will find out this summer when I go up Gettysburg, and maybe I will be wrong. Just my 2 cents.

[Dignann]

Re: New Gettysburg Visitors Center

Like Curt, I will be making my first visit to the new facility in three weeks. I will keep an open mind and reserve my opinion on its success until I have seen it. One thing to keep in mind is that the new building and its contents was surely designed as a visitor center. There is a difference between a visitor center and a museum, although some, including myself, use the two terms interchangeably. A visitor center is supposed to orient the visitor to the site, its resources, and to tell its history. A museum traditionally displays artifacts and explains their importance and significance.

I, like most here, am highly interested, if not obsessed, with the material culture of the Civil War. Thus, I like to see cool stuff. My 15 years working at Civil War sites, however, has shown me that while the average visitor has some interest in those items, and certainly likes to see artifacts, but the focus on object-oriented exhibits, like in the former visitor center/museum, had a tendency to cause the visitors' eyes to glaze over.

The park did receive new storage facilities out of this whole deal. The artifacts we love are, if they are not on display, still accessible and in a better environment than they were a couple years ago. Research appointments can be made to view those items in storage. Many of the vendors we buy from have viewed and used them in their own research. A curatorial collection is supposed to be for study as well as display.

We, as reenactors, are a minority when visiting such facilities. We come with a lot more knowledge than the average visitor and we are focused on the material culture. When you do visit the new center, try to view it through the eyes of a visitor who may never have been to Gettysburg or who knows very little about the war. That, I suspect, is who the facility is undoubtedly designed. Let's try not to judge the center until we have seen it.

Eric

[GrumpyDave]

Re: New Gettysburg Visitors Center

The visitors center is there to make money fro the NPS, period. And, they'll do their very best to get to that means, so get used to the fact we'll all have to deal with it. The NPS doesn't care what you think or type on any internet forum. Or, what any of our opinions are for that matter. That's the reality of it.

:cry_smile

[M.Latham]

Re: New Gettysburg Visitors Center

As my original post which (Mr. Dabney kindly referenced) stated my opinion regarding everything I've heard about the new Visitor Center, I just wanted to ask if anyone remembers being... well inspired by rows on row of stuff. I understand its not in vogue right now, and I understand that we as a community take an even greater interest in the material culture portion of the displays in the old VC, but I remember being well, impressed by all the items on display. I think it DID tell a story as well, if you looked at the whole of things. You could see the Federal industrial output, from mass produced firearms, accoutrements and uniforms. You could see the Confederates lack of industrialization, far more of their items were distinctly handmade, with far more differing patterns and methods.

Now how will you see things?

"The old museum had 6,633 objects on exhibit. The new museum will have 1,338 objects on display. In addition, large cases in the new museum will also include “battle debris” from the Rosensteel Collection, increasing the total number of objects on display." ~ Katie Lawhon

Years ago I did some small volunteer work for Steve Hill, who at the time worked for the Massachusetts State house on their aborted Battle flag display. I remember he once told me that old collections were meant to spark curiosity and that some percentage would see the material and want to learn more, and some percentage weren't going to care no matter what was in the room.

I prefer the older ways.

[Ken]

Re: New Gettysburg Visitors Center

All good responses. The point to my original post I guess is why does it have to be one or the other. Why can't it be both? I mean they've spent so many millions of dollars on this new facility they could have designed for both. You know, after visiting the exhibits explaining the Civil War and the battle of Gettysburg, visit the Great Hall OF Civil War Artifacts and see the greatest collection of Civil War artifacts anywhere! Now that’s a Home Run in my book!

[davidf]

Re: New Gettysburg Visitors Center

I live in Gettysburg, and will be trying to get to the new visitor center as soon as possible. But here is something interesting I would like to point out:

From this site: http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/080220/aqw050.html?.v=45

Refreshment Saloon: Visitors can try Civil War-era foods and learn about the vital role played by the volunteers who supplemented government rations.

I talked with someone who was involved with this new visitor center, they are really doing what they describe above. Though, thier hardtack will be a softer version, much softer, as I understand. Also, for those interested, here is a map of the floorplan for the place (it gives you a better idea of what will be there): http://www.nps.gov/gett/parknews/loa...&PageID=145678

I actually drove by the site a couple of weeks ago, and the building looked good, and their objective of making the place "blend in" with everything else by making it look like a barn (sort of) worked out too I think.

[Curt Schmidt]

Re: New Gettysburg Visitors Center

Hallo!

I think "Gettysburg" is the quintessential family tourist and reenactor Mecca.
And that tourists and reenactors will continue to flock there regardless of whether the "visitor center" is the old Rosensteel house with a zillion artifacts hidden among piles of Minie balls and rusty shell fagments and battlefield debris pick-ups- or the latest example of site interpretative museum display in a multi-million dollar facilty or ediface.

So far in my life, I have been to Getttysburg 48 times, leaving behind tens and tens of thousands of dollars in motel stays, meals, snacks, militaria purchases, prints, and books.
Which is probably more than the typical Americann tourist family's single vacation visit. (But there are millions of American families, and one of me.)
;) :)

"Some artifacts are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some to be chewed and digested."

-with apologies to Francis Bacon

IMHO, when it comes to "artifacts," I prefer the banquet or feast- not the bread-and-water course.
;)

Should the NPS visitor's center starve me, there is always "The Horse Soldier." Muhahahahahahahahaaaaa!!! ;) :)

Others' appetities, and mileage, will vary.

Curt
Himself a Relic and Fossil Mess
Proud Member of the Dinosauria Rifles

[cdelew]

Re: New Gettysburg Visitors Center

I will have to agree with Eric. We should look at this new visitor center with an unbiased view. I worked for the NPS as a historian at Manassas National Battlefield for several years. The majority of visitors who come to battlefields don't know much about the war or the battle in general. The visitors seem to appreciate a general orientation to the battlefield more than thousands of museum artifacts or specific information on material culture. In turn the spectators leave with a better understanding of the war, which may stimulate their interests in military history and preserving hallowed ground further.

Sincerely,
Chris